CEDB30002: Concepts in Cell and Developmental Biology

3x MCQ midsems throughout semester (10% each); 1200 word review of a given paper (10%), exam (60%)

This subject can be taken in a few majors (Biotechnology, Genetics, Immunology, and my major, Cell and Developmental Biology), and is taught by people from the Departments of Botany, Genetics, Zoology and Anatomy and Neuroscience, so you know off the bat that it's going to be a broad subject. And that it is - we cover three main areas:

• Core Cellular Functions: This covers transcriptional/translational control, protein trafficking and cell polarity (apical/basal polarity, cell junctions, cytoskeleton etc).
• Manipulating Cells and their Genes: This is where we learn the theory behind plant transgenesis, stem cells and pluripotency, transgenics and gene knockouts.
• Building a Complex Organism - Embryonic Development This covers patterning mechanisms in animals and plants, differentiation, and homeobox genes.

So you can see that we learn about a lot of different things. The subject handles this well by having different lecturers for each area, and I have nothing but good things to say about every lecturer. They really know their stuff. There's an emphasis on experimental techniques, which to be honest I wasn't a fan of as I don't want to work in a research lab, but some people loved it.

Each midsem test covers an area each, and is made up of 25 multiple choice questions. We get last years' test (and answers) to practice on, and they're pretty straightforward questions. I liked how this was set out, so we had to make sure we knew the ins and outs of each area before progressing to the next one.

Each lecturer picked a recent paper about an area of their curriculum, and we picked from them in week 2 to write a 1200 word review on, which had to cover topics like how did the paper make the conclusions it did, what the paper brings to the field and potential further investigations. A draft was due around week 7, which was then critiqued by the lecturer and sent back to us for review until final submissions around the end of the semester. This was the first paper review I've had to write, and I found it quite easy to do - the instructions are clear, and I loved that we had them reviewed before final submission (the draft wasn't compulsory or worth any marks, it was simply for feedback).

The only real negative that I have about this subject is that the three guest lecturers we have throughout semester (on neural stem cells, prions, and xenotransplantation, respectively) can be really vague in terms of what they will assess. However, I've found that they tend to recycle their MCQ in the midsem tests, so with revision they're not a problem.

I took this subject alongside BCMB30003 Molecular Aspects of Cell Biology, and the two really complimented each other well, and covered some similar aspects. I would recommend the combo to people who can take it. And, for any keen bean first years who are reading this review, if you're thinking of taking this subject make sure you do CEDB20003 Fundamentals of Cell Biology, it's a brilliantly taught subject and definitely prepared me well for this subject.

Yes, with screen capture.

A/Prof. Robb de Iongh, Dr. Mary Familari, Dr. John Golz, A/Prof. Gary Hime, Dr. Kim Johnson, Dr. Michael Murray, A/Prof. Ed Newbigin, Dr. Linda Parsons

We were given last years' exam and midsemester tests as revision.

4.5/5

Two are suggested, but the lecture notes are enough.

3x 1hr lectures each week

Sem 1 2014

TBA