2.0

credits

Average Course Rating

In this project-based laboratory course, students will conduct research into mechanisms of bacterial adaptation to conjugative plasmids. In the wet-lab portion of the course, students will learn standard laboratory techniques for bacterial culture and DNA extraction and will carry out experiments to assess phenotypic differences between different laboratory-evolved bacterial populations. In the computational portion of the course, students will learn how to analyze whole-genome sequencing data and will identify mutations present in laboratory-evolved bacteria. This project-based course is part of a larger research project investigating co-evolution of conjugative plasmids and their bacterial hosts. Students will be exposed to fundamental questions concerning the mechanisms of evolution and will learn about current research in the rapidly expanding field of Experimental Evolution. No previous experience with bacterial culture, genomics, or computer programming is required.