Biology: A Human Perspective
For non-science majors: contemporary issues of human concern. For example, cardiovascular physiology, biology of cancer, issues in contemporary biology.
Lectures, 2 hours per week; lab, alternating weeks, 2 hours per week during the Fall Term.
Note: Secondary school biology is not a prerequisite for this course.
Concepts in Biology
Topics may include cell structure and function; transmission and molecular genetics; physiology, neurobiology and behaviour; development and immunology; origins, natural selection and evolution.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab/seminar, 3 hours per week during the Winter Term.
Note: OAC biology recommended. Students registering for BIOL 1F90 should normally register for MATH 1P98 in the Fall Term. MATH 1P01 may be substituted for MATH 1P97. BIOL 1F90 is a prerequisite for most courses in the department.
Principles of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Cellular processes and their relationship to cellular structure with emphasis on the structure and function of proteins, membranes, cell organelles and the expression of genetic information.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week during the Winter Term.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 1F90 and one CHEM credit numbered 1(alpha)80 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Principles of Population and Behavioural Ecology
Biological processes and patterns of uniformity and diversity at the individual and population levels of organization; group characteristics of populations and the evolutionary basis of animal behaviour.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; tutorial, 1 hour per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Note: one-half year 1 credit in MATH strongly recommended.
Animal Form, Function and Diversity
Basic anatomical structure of organs and organ systems throughout the animal kingdom to illustrate the relationships of structure to such functions as movement, feeding, respiration, reproduction and development. Evolutionary progressions of organ systems illustrated where appropriate.
Lectures, lab, 6 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90 or permission of the instructor.
Plant Biology: Growth and Development
Biochemistry and cell biology of plant cell structure, organogenesis and plant life cycle. Focussing on angiosperm adaptations to the biotic and abiotic environment.
Lectures, lab/seminar, 6 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 1F90 and CHEM 1P92 or permission of the instructor.
Bioethics
(also offered as PHIL 2P95)
Value conflicts and moral dilemmas in biology and medicine. Emphasis on specific case studies in reproductive interventions, medical experimentation, concepts of "health" and "disease", modification of behaviour, lifestyle choices, allocation of scarce or expensive medical resources and death and dying.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one BIOL or PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Note: may count as an elective, but not as a major course in any Honours BIOL (single or combined) program.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in BIOL (PHIL) 2F95.
Biology of Fungi
Structure, development, metabolism, reproduction and evolution of fungi, emphasizing the importance of fungi, in particular yeasts, to industrial processes.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week for six weeks.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Human Physiology
Normal human function with specific reference to circulatory, respiratory and excretory activities and their regulation as well as their more common genetic, environmental and lifestyle pathologies.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Note: computer simulations.
Principles of Microbiology
Diversity, evolution, physiology and genetics of microorganisms with emphasis on applied, medical and environmental microbiology.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours alternate weeks.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Principles of Community and Environmental Biology
(also offered as ENVI 2Q04)
Principles of evolutionary ecology; biological processes at the community level of biological organization; patterns and diversity in natural ecosystems in terms of environmental toxins and their bioaccumulation in food webs; factors influencing community structure, biotic diversity and energy flow through ecosystems.
Lectures, 2 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week during the Fall Term.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 3.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Note: one-half year 1 credit in MATH strongly recommended. Year 2 students enrolled in the ENEC program are permitted to register in BIOL 2Q04 provided they have successfully completed the MATH and GEOG requirements in year 1 of the program.
Developmental Biology
Vertebrate, invertebrate and plant development. Topics include egg and sperm interaction; emergence of diverse cell types in the adult body from a single cell; genetic control of tissue and organ formation and morphological patterns in these structures; role of genes underlying the developmental mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week for 6 weeks.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2F01.
Neurobiology
(also offered as NEUR 3P34)
Structure and function of nerve cells: Electrical properties of neurons, synaptic function and transmitters, neural plasticity and cellular basis of behaviour.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; one lab, 3 hours.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2F01.
Comparative Animal Physiology
Examination of how animals work, survive and regulate physiological processes. Homeostatic mechanisms of respiration, circulation, osmoregulation, thermoregulation, locomotion and metabolism in vertebrates with comparison to selected invertebrates.
Lectures, 6 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 1F90 and 2P92 or permission of the instructor.
Applied Microbial Ecology
(also offered as BTEC 3P43)
Ecology of micro-organisms and special adaptations that permit their use in biotechnology and applied microbiology.
Lectures, lab, 6 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2P98 or permission of the instructor.
Molecular Genetics
(also offered as BTEC 3P50)
Topics include the genetic code and information flow from nucleic acids to proteins, RNA and protein synthesis; prokaryotic and eukaryotic chromosomes; gene organization; transcription, RNA processing; codon usage; enhancer and transposons.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week for 6 weeks.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2F01 or permission of the instructor.
Genetics: Transmission, Development, Population
Concepts of classical genetics including genetic mapping, extra-nuclear inheritance, polyploidy, genetics and development, evolutionary genetics.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week for 6 weeks.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90.
Animal Behaviour
Emphasis on the social context of behaviour and natural selection: the evolution and significance of visual, auditory and olfactory communication; spacing behaviour and the evolution of diversity in spacing systems; mating systems and sexual selection; development of species-typical behaviour; the development and significance of periodic behaviour patterns including endogenous rhythms orientation and navigation.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; lab as required.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 2P05, 2P92 and 2Q04.
Introductory Insect Biology
Field and laboratory exercises and lectures covering morphology, physiology, evolution, ecology, social behaviour and harmful and beneficial aspects of the insects.
Lectures, 2 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Ontario Universities Field Biology Course
The units offered are: arid environments, insect sampling, limnology, fish ecology, ornithology, aquatic ecology, marine biology, bat behaviour, scavenging arthropods, small mammal ecology, arctic ecology, high arctic tundra and alpine ecology.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits and permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: BIOL 2P05 and 2Q04.
Note: in co-operation with Carleton, Queen's, Toronto, Trent, Waterloo, Western, Windsor, and York universities, the Department of Biological Sciences participates in a series of one and two week field courses at established field stations in Algonquin Park, Lake Opinicon and the OMNR station at Dorset, Ontario. In recent years, courses have been offered outside the province at field stations in Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Each course is a separate unit and may include students from all participating universities. The number of units offered will vary from year-to-year, but those available will normally be scheduled during one- and two-week periods from late April through early September. Two one-week units or one two-week unit will constitute the equivalent of one-half credit. Registration must be completed by the end of January with the course Co-ordinator. Registrants normally defray their own travel expenses to the field station. Modest board and room costs are required in addition to the usual half credit registration fee.
Ontario Universities Field Ecology Course
See BIOL 3P71 for course description, restriction and note.
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P71.
Evolution
The idea of evolution and its development; scientific method and the past; classical, modern pre-Darwinian and Darwinian concepts; the history of the earth and the fossil record; biogeographical patterns; adaptation, natural selection and the origin of species; molecular evolution; evolution of specific taxonomic groups including humans.
Lectures, 2 hours per week; seminar, 1 hour per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 2P05 and 2Q04; one of BIOL 2P92, (2P93), 2P96, 2P98.
Investigative Neurobiology
(also offered as NEUR 3P84)
Methods used in neurobiology and neurophysiology. Emphasis on electro-physiological techniques, including intracellular and extracellular recording from nerve cells and muscle, and on theory and techniques for electro-physiological data acquisition. Other topics include intracellular staining, immunocytochemistry and assay procedures.
Lectures, 2 hours per week; lab, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2F01 or PSYC 2F36.
Note: BIOL 3P34 is strongly recommended for students who have not taken PSYC 2F36.
Ecology of a Changing Planet
(also offered as ERSC 3P85 and GEOG 3P85)
Impact of environmental change and human activity on ecosystems. Topics include climate change and global warming, habitat fragmentation, extinction, invasive species, conservation biology and the management of ecological integrity.
Lectures, lab, 5 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of BIOL 2P05, 2Q04, ERSC 2P09.
Plant Physiology: Metabolic and Biophysical Processes
The metabolism of carbon and nitrogen compounds; photosynthetic and respiratory processes; mineral nutrition; water relations; gas exchange and transport processes.
Lectures, lab, 6 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisites: BIOL 2F01 and 2P94 (2P93) or permission of the instructor.
Special Topics in Biology
(also offered as BCHM 3V90-3V99)
Selected issues in Biology on the basis of faculty expertise.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits and permission of the Chair.
Note: under certain circumstances, a student may carry out, under faculty supervision, a detailed study of the scientific literature pertinent to a specific topic. The results of this study will be presented as a major essay and as a formal seminar.
Honours Thesis
Each student will undertake a limited research project involving field or laboratory study under faculty supervision.
Restriction: open to BCHM and BIOL (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Chair.
Note: to be taken in conjunction with BIOL 4F91. Students electing to pursue studies on non-laboratory ecological projects will be permitted to initiate their programs during the summer preceding registration in year 4, but may not include data or observations obtained as a consequence of participation in field courses such as BIOL 3P71 or 3P72. Submission and oral defence of the thesis is required.
Literature Research and Seminar
Each student will undertake a detailed study of the scientific literature relevant to the topic of the honours thesis.
Restriction: open to BCHM and BIOL (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Chair.
Note: to be taken in conjunction with BIOL 4F90. Review will be included in the thesis and will be presented as a seminar.
Library Research Essays
Each student will be required to carry out two detailed studies of the scientific literature under faculty supervision.
Restriction: open to BCHM, BIOL (single or combined) and BTEC majors with approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Chair.
Note: for students not registered for BIOL 4F90 and BIOL 4F91. Results of the studies will be presented in major essays and formal seminars. One research topic is to be completed each term.
Current Topics in Photobiology
(also offered as BCHM 4P03)
The interaction of light with biological molecules. Effects of ultraviolet radiation, photosynthesis, vision and photo regulation of genes and proteins.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: any year 3 BCHM credit or permission of the instructor.
Bioinformatics
(also offered as BCHM 4P06 and BTEC 4P06)
Genome sequencing projects, gene discovery and gene expression. DNA/RNA/Protein sequence data, including mutagenic processes, molecular evolution and systematics, codon usage, reconstruction of ancient molecules, and prediction of higher-level molecular structure.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisites: BIOL 3P50, 3P80, BCHM 3P02 and MATH 1P98 or permission of the instructor.
Selected Topics in Animal and Plant Signal Transduction Pathways
(also offered as BCHM 4P09 and BTEC 4P09)
Perception of stimuli to effects on gene expression emphasizing the molecular/biochemical tools used to study these pathways.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BCHM 3P01.
Mutagenesis in Disease and Biotechnology
(also offered as BCHM 4P21 and BTEC 4P21)
Exploration of the various mechanisms of mutagenesis of the genetic material, how they contribute to disease, and how they can be adapted to produce new biomolecules.
Lectures/seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P50 or BCHM 3P02.
Developmental Neurobiology
Principles of neural development. Topics include cell lineage and early determinative events, trophic functions, growth and plasticity, synaptogenesis and gene expression in the establishment of the nervous system.
Lectures/seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisites: BIOL 3P28 and 3P34 or permission of the instructor.
Systems Neurophysiology
Neuronal networks and integrative mechanisms in the nervous system. Topics may include the visual system, rhythm generators and motor function, learning and memory.
Lectures/seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P34 or permission of the instructor.
Molecular Virology
(also offered as BTEC 4P51)
Bacterial and animal viruses. Topics include biochemical properties, virus-host interaction, productive cycle, effect of virus on host cell and organism, viral vectors and gene therapy, recombinant viral vaccines and origin of virus.
Lectures, seminar, 2 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P50 or permission of the instructor.
Immunology
Humoral and cellular immunity; structure and synthesis of immunoglobulins; origin of antibody diversity; transplantation immunity and the importance of the major histocompatibility complex; auto-immunity and allergic reactions.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P50 or BCHM 3P01.
Bacterial Genetics
(also offered as BTEC 4P57)
Molecular and transmission genetics of bacteria. Bacterial genetics from early descriptions of transformation and transduction to current developments in molecular genetics.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisites: BIOL 2P98 and 3P50 or permission of the instructor.
Fungal Genetics
(also offered as BTEC 4P58)
Transmission and molecular genetics of fungi. Recent advances in gene manipulation and the contribution of studies on these organisms to general genetic principles.
Lectures, seminar, 2 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: one of BIOL 2P96, 3P50, 3P51 or permission of the instructor.
Advanced Seminar in Population and Behavioural Ecology
Topics selected vary from year to year partly in response to student interests.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: one of BIOL 3P60, 3P64, 3P65.
Natural Selection and Adaptation
Topics may include fitness, selection in natural populations, life history evolution, adaptive traits, forces opposing natural selection, population structure and natural selection. Emphasis on empirical studies in current literature.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours)
Prerequisite: BIOL 2P05 or BIOL 2Q04.
Note: BIOL 3P80 is strongly recommended.
Sociobiology
Examination of how natural selection shapes social behaviour emphasizing the evolution of co-operation and altruism. Interplay among social interactions between individuals, physical interactions and intrinsic factors defining societies.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours)
Prerequisites: BIOL 2P05; BIOL 3P60 or 3P80.
Insect Behaviour
Selected topics in the field of insect behaviour including: programming and integration of behaviour orientation and dispersal, feeding and plant-herbivore co-evolution, chemical, visual and acoustical communication, defensive behaviour, reproductive behaviour and the eusocial insects.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P60, 3P64 or permission of the instructor.
Dendrochronology
(also offered as GEOG 4P80 and ERSC 4P80)
Principles and use of dendrochronology to study forest dynamics, geomorphic events and paleoenvironmental change; use of tree growth in the study of climate and environmental factors; measurement and statistical analysis of tree growth records.
Lectures, lab, local field trip, 6 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of BIOL 2P05, 2Q04, GEOG 2P09.
Physiology of Excitable Cells
Neurons, muscle and/or neurosecretory cells at the cellular and subcellular levels. Topics include ion channel activity, patch clamp recording, intracellular messenger systems, mechanisms of neurosecretion and neural plasticity.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 14.0 overall credits or approval to year 4 (honours).
Prerequisite: BIOL 3P34, 3P84 or permission of the instructor.