The Genetics Era: Finding Genes for Human Behavior and Disease - Period 5 STEM in Amsterdam Program Spring 2020 Semester - Amsterdam

This course will consist of ~14 meetings. The first meetings will provide an introduction of the foundations of behaviour genetics research, starting with twin and family studies (e.g., what is heritability), and the basics of the genome and DNA (what are the building blocks of the genome, how is DNA transmitted, and how can DNA be measured). The students will then participate in a 2 session ?bitter tasting? lab practical in which they will isolate their own DNA from saliva, and test whether they have the genotype that determines whether or not you can taste bitterness. In subsequent lectures, contemporary methods are discussed that are used to identify the genes that are involved in medical and psychiatric disorders, and other behavioural traits like cognition and height (e.g., linkage, candidate gene studies, genome-wide association analyses). Having identified involved genes, various types of follow-up studies are discussed that are required to learn and understand what these genes do (e.g., model animal studies, iPSCs). The final lectures of the course concern the question whether and how findings from genetic research translate to the (clinical) practice, and can be used in e.g. pre- and postnatal screening. This will also be the topic of the final debate, with which we end the course: in the presence of an expert panel, students will discuss the pros and cons of increasing genetic knowledge and how it should (not) be used in the medical and social context (e.g., insurance, pre- and postnatal screening).

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA?s recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.

This is an Honors course.