Msc-Mb-Syll-201718.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Msc-Mb-Syll-201718.Pdf ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Department of Microbiology CURRICULUM AND SYLLABI FOR MSc MICROBIOLOGY PROGRAM The Department of Microbiology, Central University of Tamil Nadu offers a two-year full-time MSc Degree Program in Microbiology. Purpose: To impart knowledge and training across the different fields in Microbiology to be able to equip students for academics/industry. Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Applied Microbiology, Human Genetics, Nutrition and Dietetics, Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Dairy Sciences, Agriculture and Horticulture, Home Science, Veterinary Sciences, Fisheries Sciences, Public Health, and Allied Health Sciences from a recognized university or equivalent. Candidates should have secured a minimum of 60% marks or 6.5 CGPA (on a 10-point scale) in the qualifying degree examination for General Category, 55% marks or 6.0 CGPA (on a 10-point scale) for OBC (non-creamy layer) and 50% aggregate marks or 5.5 CGPA (on a 10-point scale) for SC/ST/PWD candidates. Credits: The program consists of courses with a total of 72 credits. Core Course (CC): 60 credits Elective Course (EC): 12 credits Number of Semesters, Course Distribution: The program comprises 4 semesters; each semester has courses equivalent of 20 credits. Project Work & Dissertation: Compulsory, with 6 credits in Semester IV to impart research training. MSc Microbiology: Semester 1 COURSE TYPE NUMBER OF SL. NO. COURSE NAME CODE OF COURSE CREDITS I Semester: Theory 1 General Microbiology CMB101 CC 3 2 Cell & Molecular Biology CMB102 CC 3 3 Microbial Biochemistry CMB103 CC 3 4 Immunobiology CMB104 CC 3 5 Microbial Genetics CMB105 CC 3 6 Microbial Physiology CMB106 CC 3 I Semester: Practicals 1 Practical Microbiology I PMB101 CC 2 2 Practical Microbiology II PMB102 CC 2 MSc Microbiology: Semester 2 COURSE TYPE NUMBER OF SL. NO. COURSE NAME CODE OF COURSE CREDITS II Semester: Theory 1 Bacteriology & Mycology CMB201 CC 3 2 Virology & Parasitology CMB202 CC 3 3 Food & Industrial Microbiology CMB203 CC 3 4 Agricultural Microbiology & Plant Pathology CMB204 CC 3 5 Methods in Gene Technology CM205 CC 3 6 Biosafety, Bioethics & IPR CMB206 CC 3 II Semester: Practicals 1 Practical Microbiology III PMB201 CC 2 2 Practical Microbiology IV PMB202 CC 2 MSc Microbiology: Semester 3 COURSE TYPE NUMBER OF SL. NO. COURSE NAME CODE OF COURSE CREDITS III Semester: Theory 1 Computational Biology & Biostatistics CMB301 CC 3 2 Marine Microbiology CMB302 CC 3 3 Environmental Microbiology CMB303 CC 3 4 Pharmaceutical Microbiology CMB304 CC 3 5 Medical Microbiology CMB305 CC 3 6 Microbial Technology CMB306 CC 3 III Semester: Practicals 1 Practical Microbiology V PMB301 CC 2 2 Practical Microbiology VI PMB302 CC 2 MSc Microbiology: Semester 4 COURSE TYPE NUMBER OF SL. NO. COURSE NAME CODE OF COURSE CREDITS IV Semester: Theory 1 Biomedical Techniques EMB401 EC 3 2 Diagnostic Microbiology EMB402 EC 3 3 Drug Design and Discovery EMB403 EC 3 4 Nanotechnology Applications in Microbiology EMB404 EC 3 COURSE TYPE NUMBER OF SL. NO. COURSE NAME CODE OF COURSE CREDITS IV Semester: Project Work 1 SEEC/Project/Dissertation CMB401 CC 6 Total Number of Credits 84 MSc Microbiology: Semester 1 GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY Course Code: CMB101 Total Number of Credits: 03 General Microbiology course is aimed at introducing the history and development of microbiology. The contents aims to help students understand the history, biology, and growth and control of microorganisms. Beginners of the course are rightly exposed to the foundation of microbiology, which would lead them towards progressive advancement of the subject. Unit 1: Scope of microbiology, Ancient microbiology - Refutation of a biogenesis: Discovery of penicillin: Discovery of vaccination: One-gene one-enzyme hypothesis, Contribution of scientists – Leeuwenhoeck, Edward Jenner, Alexander Fleming, Joseph Lister, Robert Koch, Louis Pasteur, Hargobind Khorrana. Modern Microbiology: Landmark achievements in 20th century. Microbial taxonomy - Definition and systematics, Nomenclatural rules and identification. Haeckel’s three kingdom classification, Whittaker’s five kingdom approach - Woese domain system. Major characteristics used in taxonomy: Morphological, physiological and metabolic, genetic and molecular taxonomy. Bergey’s Classification of bacteria. Unit 2: Differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell. Biology of bacteria - cell structure, size, shape, arrangement membrane, cell wall, cytoplasmic inclusions, mesosomes, flagella and motility, slime, glycocalyx, capsule, pili, chemotaxis, endospore - biology of fungi, structure, physiology and classification – biology of yeast – reproduction - virus (bacteriophages) structure, life cycle (lytic and lysogenic) – biology of algae – mycoplasma – prions. Unit 3: Microbial nutrition: Microbial nutrient requirements, macro-nutrients, micro-elements, growth factors, sources of nutrients, nutritional classification of bacteria: phototroph, chemotroph, autotroph, heterotroph, photoautotroph, photoheterotroph, chemoautotroph, chemoheterotroph – nutritional patterns of pathogens – saprophytes – auxotroph. Unit 4: Extremophiles: Diversity of microorganisms of arctic, antarctic and hydrothermal vents – Archaeal biology - acidophile, alkaliphile, anaerobe, cryptoendolith, halophile, hyperthermophile, hypolith, lithoautotroph, metal-tolerant microbes, oligotroph, osmophile, piezophile, polyextremophile, psychrophile/cryophile, radio-resistant, thermophile, thermoacidophile, xerophile – mechanism of extremophiles. Unit 5: Cultivation and control of microbes: Types of growth media (natural, synthetic, complex, enriched, selective- definition with examples), pure culture methods (streak plate, spread plate, pour plate, stab culture, slant culture). Anaerobic (thioglycollate, anaerobic chamber, Robertson’s media, microaerophilic), liquid shake culture of aerobic bacteria, Control of microbes - sterilisation, disinfection, antiseptic, tyndalization, pasteurization: physical - dry heat, moist heat, UV light, ionizing radiation, filtration, HEPA filter, chemical methods. References 1. Christopher J. Woolverton, Linda Sherwood, Joanne Willey Prescott LM Harley JP and Klein DA (2016). Microbiology (10th edition) McGraw-Hill Education. 2. Schaechter M and Leaderberg J (2009). The Desk encyclopedia of Microbiology (3rd edition) Elseiver Academic press, California. 3. John Webster (January 25, 2007). Introduction to Fungi. (3rd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 4. Nester, E.W., Roberts, C.V. and Nester, M.T. (2015). Microbiology, A human perspective.(8th Edition) McGraw-Hill Education (January 6, 2015) 5. Madigan MT Martinko. JM and Parker J Brock TD (2017). Biology of Microorganisms. (15th edition). Pearson 6. Holt, J.S., Kreig, N.R., Sneath, P.H.A and Williams, S.T. Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (9th Edition), Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore. 7. Mara D. and Horan N. (2013). The Handbook of Water and Waste-Water Microbiology. (3rd edition) Academic CRC Press. MSc Microbiology: Semester 1 CELL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Course Code: CMB102 Total Number of Credits: 03 Cell and Molecular Biology aims to introduce the fundamentals and basic biology of life. The contents will help students understand the features and differences between a prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell. It will elaborate the central dogma of the cell i.e., gene expression viz. transcription and translation across both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Unit 1: The molecules of life, the architecture of cells: Cell theory, Emergence of modern cell biology, Structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells- cell wall, cell membrane, cell organelles - organization and functions, Cell cycle events - Molecular cell biology - protein structure and function, Hierarchical structure of proteins - folding, modification and degradation, functional design of proteins - membrane proteins - purification, detection and characterization. Unit 2: Biosynthesis of macromolecules - Biomembranes and subcellular organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells - cell architecture - Cell signaling – types, Chemical signals and cellular receptors, G Protein-linked receptors, Protein kinase-associated receptors, Growth factors as messengers, Cell signals and Apoptosis, Cytoskeleton: microfilaments-intermediate filaments-microtubules. Unit 3: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA replication, mechanisms of DNA replication, fidelity of replication, enzymes and proteins involved in DNA replication. Types of gene mutations. Suppression, Transposable Genetic Elements, Ames’ test. DNA damage and repair mechanisms, DNA repair and aging, DNA repair modulation. Unit 4: Prokaryotic transcription: RNA polymerase, holoenzyme and apoenzyme, sigma factors, details of initiation, elongation, termination. Eukaryotic transcription: Types of RNA polymerases. Promoter of RNA polymerase II. Enhancers. General and inducible transcription factors. Post- translational modification: mRNA processing, processing, capping, cleavage and poly- adenylation, splicing of nuclear pre-mRNA, mRNA stability. Unit 5: Gene code: characteristics, deciphering the code. Protein biosynthesis: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic translation, the translational machinery, mechanism of initiation, elongation and termination. Regulation of expression in eukaryotes: Britten-Davidson model. DNA binding and activation domains of transcription factors. Packaging of chromosomes and its relation to transcription
Recommended publications
  • Origins of Genetic Determinism in Medieval Creationism By
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Origins of Genetic Determinism in Medieval Creationism By: Douglas Wahlsten Wahlsten, D. (1998). Origins of genetic determinism in medieval creationism. Race, Gender & Class, 5: 90-107 Made available courtesy of The University of New Orleans, Sociology Department: http://soci.uno.edu/ ***Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction is authorized without written permission from The University of New Orleans, Sociology Department. This version of the document is not the version of record. Figures and/or pictures may be missing from this format of the document.*** Abstract: The discovery of statistical laws of heredity by Gregor Mendel was an important advance in biological science. However, Mendel's opinion that the entire character was transmitted was not derived from his data and instead reflected prior beliefs outside the domain of science. It is argued here that Mendel, a monk and later abbot of an Augustine monastery, was influenced by St. Augustine's theory of divine creation of the rationes seminales which specified the form for all future beings in great detail. Furthermore, the continued adherence to genetic determinism among contemporary scientists is largely, despite strong evidence supporting a developmental systems or dialectical view of heredity and development. Keywords: St. Augustine, Mendel, Bateson, heredity, epigenesis, dialectics, reductionism Article: On the occasion of the centenary of Mendel's famous paper on hybrid crosses of garden peas, Oliver (1967) distinguished between the forefathers and modern practitioners of genetics: "Early Mendelists supposed that there was regularly a one-to-one relationship between genetic factors and their associated characters.
    [Show full text]
  • M.Sc. Microbiology (2019 ONWARDS)
    PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY PUDUCHERRY 605 014 CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS of M.Sc. Microbiology (2019 ONWARDS) Department of Microbiology School of Life Sciences About the course The Department of Microbiology is committed to excellence in education, research and extension. This Department is being strengthened with various research units and periodical update / modernization of the curricula. The Department of Microbiology at the Pondicherry University, School of Life Sciences, brings together a variety of researchers as faculty of this programme who are specialized in their domains and united by the common goal of understanding the “Microbes”. Microbes are playing important role in the bioprocess of all living things and maintain homeostasis of the universe. Without microbes, one cannot imagine such a biologically balanced and diverse universe; rather our earth would have placed as a barren planet. As the microbial activities are so diverse, the microbiology programme is a multidisciplinary subject, which will have the roots of life science, environmental science, and engineering. Traditional microbiology is considered to be an important area of study in biology since it has enormous potential and vast scope in fermentation, bioremediation and biomedical technology. But the recent developments from human microbiome project, metagenomics and microbial genome projects has expanded its scope and potential in the next generation drug design, molecular pathogenesis, phylogeography, production of smart biomolecules, etc. Modern Microbiology has expanded its roots in genome technology, nanobiotechnology, green energy (biofuel) technology, bioelectronics etc. Considering recent innovations and rapid growth of microbiological approaches and applications in human and environmental sustainability, the M.Sc. Microbiology curricula is designed to enlighten the students in basics of Microbiology to recent developments.
    [Show full text]
  • Malpighi, Swammerdam and the Colourful Silkworm: Replication and Visual Representation in Early Modern Science
    Annals of Science, 59 (2002), 111–147 Malpighi, Swammerdam and the Colourful Silkworm: Replication and Visual Representation in Early Modern Science Matthew Cobb Laboratoire d’Ecologie, CNRS UMR 7625, Universite´ Paris 6, 7 Quai St Bernard, 75005 Paris, France. Email: [email protected] Received 26 October 2000. Revised paper accepted 28 February 2001 Summary In 1669, Malpighi published the rst systematic dissection of an insect. The manuscript of this work contains a striking water-colour of the silkworm, which is described here for the rst time. On repeating Malpighi’s pioneering investi- gation, Swammerdam found what he thought were a number of errors, but was hampered by Malpighi’s failure to explain his techniques. This may explain Swammerdam’s subsequent description of his methods. In 1675, as he was about to abandon his scienti c researches for a life of religious contemplation, Swammerdam destroyed his manuscript on the silkworm, but not before sending the drawings to Malpighi. These gures, with their rich and unique use of colour, are studied here for the rst time. The role played by Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society, in encouraging contact between the two men is emphasized and the way this exchange reveals the development of some key features of modern science — replication and modern scienti c illustration — is discussed. Contents 1. Introduction . 111 2. Malpighi and the silkworm . 112 3. The silkworm reveals its colours . 119 4. Swammerdam and the silkworm . 121 5. Swammerdam replicates Malpighi’s work . 124 6. Swammerdam publicly criticizes Malpighi . 126 7. Oldenburg tries to play the middle-man .
    [Show full text]
  • The Machine Conception of the Organism in Development And&Nbsp
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 48 (2014) 162e174 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/shpsc The machine conception of the organism in development and evolution: A critical analysis Daniel J. Nicholson Centre for the Study of Life Sciences (Egenis), University of Exeter, Byrne House, St. German’s Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4PJ, UK article info abstract Article history: This article critically examines one of the most prevalent metaphors in contemporary biology, namely Available online 12 September 2014 the machine conception of the organism (MCO). Although the fundamental differences between or- ganisms and machines make the MCO an inadequate metaphor for conceptualizing living systems, many Keywords: biologists and philosophers continue to draw upon the MCO or tacitly accept it as the standard model of Organism the organism. The analysis presented here focuses on the specific difficulties that arise when the MCO is Machine invoked in the contexts of development and evolution. In developmental biology the MCO underlies a Metaphor logically incoherent model of ontogeny, the genetic program, which serves to legitimate three prob- Genetic program Design lematic theses about development: genetic animism, neo-preformationism, and developmental Engineering computability. In evolutionary biology the MCO is responsible for grounding unwarranted theoretical appeals to the concept of design as well as to the interpretation of natural selection as an engineer, which promote a distorted understanding of the process and products of evolutionary change. Overall, it is argued that, despite its heuristic value, the MCO today is impeding rather than enabling further progress in our comprehension of living systems.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Epigenetics? Two Views in Embryology
    What is Epigenetics? Two views in embryology Preformationism (17-19th century): each cell contains preformed elements that enlarge during development. Epigenesis (19th century -): chemical Humunculus reactions among soluble components in Hartsoecker 1695 the cell that execute a complex developmental plan. Chromosomes are Necessary for Development Before the 20th century Walter Sutton, 1902 Theodor Boveri, 1903 Columbia University University of Würzburg USA Germany • Determined that all chromosomes had to be present for proper embryonic development. • Development encoded by irreversible changes in chromosomes? Cell Specialization is Reversible Late 20th and early 21st centuries Skin cell nuclear transfers 99 Central Question: How can a single Original explant fertilized egg give rise to a complex removed Adult frog of \-nu strain Outgrowth of organism with cells of varied as nuclear donor epidermal cells phenotypes? Parent of 1st transfer Donor cells for recipient eggs Enucleation of nuclear transfer recipient eggs 1st nuclear transfer Cells trypsinized Foot web outgrowth and washed prove frog was 2-nu Uncleaved Completely cleaved (70 V) Martially cleaved /c o/\ • Gurdon, Laskey & Reeves 1975 (25%) demonstrated that “cell Dissociated cells for specialization does not involve serial transfer I *^i/ KJpZ* Parent of serial ttransfei r any loss, irreversible activation or Enucleation of 1 recipient eggs recipient eggs Serial nuclear transfer permanent change chromosomal Foot web outgrowth prove frog was 2-nu genes required for development” Uncleaved Completely cleaved (40/O Partially cleaved (30/0 (30%) Nuclear transplant tadpole: l-nu diploid from nucleolus and chromosome counts (present in 36% of serial clones) Fig. 2. Plan of serial nuclear transfer experiments, using nuclei from adult skin celJs.
    [Show full text]
  • Transcendental Idealism and the Organism
    TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM AND THE ORGANISM ACTA UNIVERSITATIS STOCKHOLMIENSIS STOCKHOLM STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY 26 TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM AND THE ORGANISM ESSAYS ON KANT Marcel Quarfood ALMQVIST & WIKSELL INTERNATIONAL STOCKHOLM Doctoral Dissertation Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm ABSTRACT The notion of the organism has a somewhat ambiguous status in Kant’s philosophy. On the one hand it belongs to natural science, on the other hand it is based on an analogy with the structure of reason. Biology therefore has a peculiar place among the sciences according to Kant: it is constituted by the use of a regulative maxim. The present study places Kant’s views on biological teleology in the larger context of transcendental idealism. It consists of five essays. The first one treats the notions of things in themselves and appearances, arguing for an interpretation in terms of two aspects or perspectives rather than two worlds. The importance of the discursivity of our cognitive capacity is stressed, as well as the need to separate Kant’s various reflective perspectives. In the second essay this interpretation is applied to the third section of the Groundwork, arguing that this text does not belong to theoretical metaphysics, but rather to the articulation of a specifically practical perspective. The third essay discusses similarities and differences between Kant’s a priori conditions for cognition and conceptions of innate ideas in the rationalist tradition. Kant’s comparison of the system of categories with the biological theory of epigenesis is considered in connection to eighteenth century theories of generation. The comparison is viewed as an analogy rather than as a naturalistic theory of the a priori.
    [Show full text]
  • Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World Part I
    Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World Part I Professor Steven L. Goldman THE TEACHING COMPANY ® PUBLISHED BY: THE TEACHING COMPANY 4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100 Chantilly, Virginia 20151-1232 1-800-TEACH-12 Fax—703-378-3819 www.teach12.com Copyright © The Teaching Company, 2007 Printed in the United States of America This book is in copyright. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of The Teaching Company. ISBN 978-1-59803-305-2 Steven L. Goldman, Ph.D. Departments of Philosophy and History, Lehigh University Steven Goldman has degrees in physics (B.Sc., Polytechnic University of New York) and philosophy (M.A., Ph.D., Boston University) and, since 1977, has been the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Lehigh University. He has a joint appointment in the departments of philosophy and history because his teaching and research focus on the history, philosophy, and social relations of modern science and technology. Professor Goldman came to Lehigh from the philosophy department at the State College campus of Pennsylvania State University, where he was a co-founder of one of the first U.S. academic programs in science, technology, and society (STS) studies. For 11 years (1977–1988), he served as director of Lehigh’s STS program and was a co-founder of the National Association of Science, Technology and Society Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Aquinas and the Generation of the Embryo: Being Human Before the Rational Soul
    Thomas Aquinas and the Generation of the Embryo: Being Human before the Rational Soul Author: Melissa Rovig Vanden Bout Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104090 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2013 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Philosophy THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE GENERATION OF THE EMBRYO BEING HUMAN BEFORE THE RATIONAL SOUL a dissertation by MELISSA ROVIG VANDEN BOUT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 © copyright by MELISSA ROVIG VANDEN BOUT 2013 Abstract: “Thomas Aquinas and the Generation of the Embryo: Being Human before the Rational Soul” By Melissa Rovig Vanden Bout Peter Kreeft, Adviser Thomas Aquinas is generally viewed as the chief proponent of the theory of delayed animation, the view that the human embryo does not at first have the rational soul proper to human beings. Thomas follows Aristotle’s embryology, in which an embryo is animated by a succession of souls. The first is a nutritive soul, having the powers of growth, nutrition, and generation. The second is a sensitive soul, having the additional powers of locomotion and sensing. The third and final soul is the human, or rational soul, which virtually includes the nutritive and sensitive souls. Because Thomas holds that there is only one substantial form of a composite, none of these forms overlap to provide continuity. It is therefore exceedingly difficult to speak of the embryo as one enduring subject through the succession of souls.
    [Show full text]
  • In Recent Decades, the Formation of the Concept of Race in the Late Eighteenth
    INTRODUCTION SUSANNE LETTOW n recent decades, the formation of the concept of race in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has attracted much scholarly interest particu- Ilarly in the history of science, philosophy, and literary studies. At the same time, the naturalization of gender differences, which went hand in hand with the emerging life sciences, has been widely studied and criticized. However, the concept of race and the naturalized, scientific understanding of gender have rarely been studied in relation to each other, although their co-emergence is not just a question of simultaneity. At the end of the eighteenth century, the two ideas play a central role in the process of the temporalization of nature and the emergence of the life sciences. In particular, scientific understandings of race and gender are constituted and disputed within the debates on pro- creation, generation, and heredity that take place during the period. Race and gender1 are thus closely connected to the new focus on diachronic processes of propagation and on long-term successions of individuals, which—in the sec- ond half of the eighteenth century—came to be articulated by the neologism reproduction.2 However, the fact that concepts of race and gender co-emerged within the “procreation discourse” (Jocelyn Holland) of the late eighteenth century does not mean that they did so in parallel or homologous ways. On the contrary, connections between race, gender, and reproduction, which were of central importance for population politics later in the nineteenth century, were dispersed and unstable during the period. The aim of this volume is to inquire into processes of the co-emergence of the concepts of race, gender, and reproduction in the decades around 1800—a period when all these concepts were in the making.
    [Show full text]
  • HERNAN BURBANO.P65
    EPIGENETICS AND GENETIC DETERMINISM BURBANO, H. A.: Epigenetics and genetic determinism. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v. 13, n. 4, p. 851-63, Oct-Dec. 2006. This paper posits that the gene-centered viewpoint of the organism (gene-centrism) is Epigenetics and not enough to explain biological complexity. Organisms are not completely determined by genetic determinism their genomes; rather, living beings can be seen as interpreters or intentional systems. Epigenetics is the framework that allows the avoidance of gene-centrism and permits the emergence of a more holistic standpoint Epigenética e where determination and novelty can coexist, as shown with examples taken from determinismo genético developmental biology and macromolecules folding. In summary, as P. Medawar and J. Medawar wrote: “Genetics proposes; epigenetics disposes.” KEYWORDS: epigenetics; genetic determinism; gene-centrism. BURBANO, H. A.: Epigenética e determinismo genético. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v. 13, n. 4, p. 851-63, out.-dez. 2006. O presente trabalho afirma que a visão geneticista do organismo (genecentrismo) não é suficiente para explicar a complexidade biológica. Os organismos não são completamente determinados por seus genomas; ou melhor, os seres vivos podem ser vistos como intérpretes ou sistemas intencionais. A epigenética é o arcabouço que ajuda a evitar o genecentrismo e permite a emergência de uma posição mais holística, em que determinismo e inovação podem coexistir, conforme demonstrado a partir de exemplos retirados da biologia do desenvolvimento e da estrutura das macromoléculas. Em resumo, como P. Medawar e J. Medawar escreveram: “A genética propõe e a epigenética dispõe”. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: epigenética; determinismo genético; genecentrismo.
    [Show full text]
  • Developmental Biology in Geneva: a Three Century-Long Tradition
    Int. J. Dev. Biol. 46: 5-13 (2002) Developmental Biology in Geneva: A Three Century-Long Tradition MARINO BUSCAGLIA*1 and DENIS DUBOULE2 1History and Philosophy of Sciences and Institute for the History of Medicine and Health, University of Geneva, Switzerland and 2Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, Sciences III, University of Geneva, Switzerland Recent books and publications dealing with the history of result of mainly religious and economical reasons. But the situation science and, in particular, with natural science and biology in changed around 1700, when science in Geneva started to develop, Geneva, have profoundly changed and enriched our understand- first on a family scale. This local network further established strong ing of the scientific movement that developed in this small indepen- contacts with other scientific communities, especially in France, dent town, which became part of Switzerland as recently as in 1815 England, Holland, Germany and Italy (Montandon, 1975). During (Buscaglia et al., 1994; Dawson, 1987; Dinsmore, 1991; Lenhoff the early days, these naturalists developed a very pragmatic, and Lenhoff 1986; Montandon, 1975; Trembley, 1987). These utilitarian activity; they borrowed from other communities the contributions, added to more classical ones (e.g. Baker, 1952; elements of their own scientific ideology (Buscaglia, 1997), which Guyénot, 1941; Vartanian, 1950), suggest some general consider- can be tentatively summarized as: “less theory and more experi- ations about the birth, origin and development of this original ment is best” (see in particular the work of Sigrist, 2002). scientific community, with a particular focus on its seminal contri- The scientific community in Geneva was exceptionally bright and bution to the fields of embryology, regeneration and developmen- flourishing during the 18th century, but really became a recognized tal biology at large.
    [Show full text]
  • Development and Microbiology
    Noname manuscript No. (will be inserted by the editor) Development and Microbiology Aja Watkins Received: December 12, 2020 / Accepted: June 10, 2021 Abstract On the basis of findings from developmental biology, some researchers have argued that evolutionary theory needs to be significantly updated. Advo- cates of such a \developmental update" have, among other things, suggested that we need to re-conceptualize units of selection, that we should expand our view of inheritance to include environmental as well as genetic and epigenetic factors, that we should think of organisms and their environment as involved in reciprocal causation, and that we should reevaluate the rates of evolution- ary change. However, many of these same conclusions could be reached on the basis of other evidence, namely from microbiology. In this paper, I ask why microbiological evidence has not had a similarly large influence on calls to update biological theory, and argue that there is no principled reason to focus on developmental as opposed to microbiological evidence in support of these revisions to evolutionary theory. I suggest that the focus on developmental bi- ology is more likely attributable to historical accident. I will also discuss some possible room for overlap between developmental and microbiology, despite the historical separation of these two subdisciplines. Keywords microbiology · developmental biology · units of selection · inheritance · reciprocal causation · evolutionary rates 1 Introduction Developmental biological evidence has provided the impetus for some scholars to argue that biological theory, and evolutionary theory in particular, is in need of revision. Developmental biologists have, among other things, shown that the relationship between genes and phenotypes is rather more complicated than Aja Watkins Boston University E-mail: [email protected] 2 Aja Watkins a one-to-one correspondence, and have demonstrated the importance of epi- genetic factors, including in patterns of inheritance.
    [Show full text]