Back to Find Units Page

Unit of Study BIOL2001 - Genetics (2022)

Show me unit information for year

Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    There will be a 3 day compulsory residential for all students (Online and On Campus) that will be held at the Lismore campus. Please refer to http://scu.edu.au/timetables for further information on timetables.

Unit description

This unit provides an introduction to the principles of genetics — the science of heredity. Humankind relies heavily on the application of genetic principles for the production of food, fibre, timber, animal feed, effective medicines and disease diagnosis. Genetics can also be used to understand evolution and manage threatened species for long term survival. We also explore techniques used to reveal genetic differences between individuals, the genetic basis of evolutionary change and the genetics of populations and the how this can impact on conservation management.

Unit content

Introduction to, and importance of, genetics

Chromosomes, meiosis and sexual reproduction

Mendelian inheritance patterns

Non-Mendelian inheritance patterns

The physical nature of genes - chromosome and DNA structure

Genes at the molecular level

Mutation

Mutation detection (detecting genetic variation)

Population genetics

Evolutionary genetics

Applications of genetics - Conservation genetics, breeding, human disease

Availabilities

Not currently available in 2022

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of single gene inheritance, meiosis, segregation and recombination

analyse information on inheritance patterns to provide likely underlying genetic causes for several classes of non-mendelian inheritance, including linkage, cytoplasmic inheritance, epistatic interaction and sex linked traits

describe the nature of the gene and define genetic mutations

interpret results of genotyping to apply in decision making in plant or animal conservation

define genetic diversity, natural selection and genetic drift

discuss the ethical implications of genetic information for society and for individuals.