Molecular Genetics and Development

- Discuss the evidence supporting a role for tinman homologues in heart development - Discuss the anatomical and molecular evidence supporting the theory of dorsoventral axis inversion during the evolution of protostome and deuterostome lineages. - Describe the conserved features of Hox gene cluster organisation. - Appreciate and discuss how changes in the expression and activity of Hox genes have contributed to changes in anatomy during animal evolution. - Draw conclusions regarding the molecul...

- Describe the different types of animal body symmetry and the main body axes of bilaterally symmetrical animals. - Describe the features that define diploblasts versus triploblasts. - Describe the features that define protostomes versus deuterostomes. - Understand the importance of the Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna in animal evolution. - Describe the common features of phylotypic stage chordate embryos. - Discuss the evidence indicating that Pax6 is a conserved regulator of eye development. - ...

- To describe the changes in DNA methylation that occur upon fertilization and during early mammalian development and some of the mechanisms involved - To understand that TET proteins are involved in active demethylation - To provide an example of how the epigenome can change post-embryonic development - To have been reminded of the method of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and introduced to Bisulfite Sequencing

- To have gained an understanding of why epigenetics is relevant to development - To understand that DNA methylation can impact gene expression and be able to describe an experimental approach to test this - To explain how patterns of DNA methylation can be maintained through DNA replication - To understand that covalent histone modifications form a code that can impact gene expression - To explain how some histone modifications can be maintained through DNA replication

- Describe the experimental evidence supporting a conserved pathway for regulating neurogenesis in animals - Discuss the conserved function of proneural genes in neurogenesis - Discuss the conserved function of neurogenic genes in neurogenesis - Describe the role of lateral inhibition in selecting neural precursors - Describe the conserved role of notch-delta signalling in mediating lateral inhibition - Appreciate and discuss the distinct processes of neural induction, neurogenesis and neurulati...