Competency in structure and function of genomes as well as their evolution is essential in modern biology. This module will give students an advanced understanding of current scientific research in molecular mechanism of gene regulation, evolution of genomes and experimental approaches to study the function of genomes. The module will focus on the contribution of molecular biology and genomics to our knowledge of regulation of the gene activity in eukaryotic organisms and concepts of gene expression evolution. Critical analysis of original experimental data will provide the intellectual framework for students to discuss the design of experiments and to draw appropriate conclusions from any results.

The module will be divided into the following major parts:

Key concepts of regulation of gene activity, essential molecular biology and genomic approaches will be taught via lectures.
	First-hand practical sessions in which the students will learn about bioinformatics resources and their application to predict genomic functional elements (e.g. NCBI, Gene Ontology, ENCODE).
	Specific topics will be addressed and case studies analysed via interactive seminars complemented with activities such as, problem based learning and group presentations.
Module objectives

To have an advanced knowledge of molecular mechanisms of gene activity regulation.
	To show how genomic and regulatory sequence changes can generate biological diversity.
	To be able to use publicly available genomic resources and genome comparison approaches to generate prediction of functional sequences.
	To develop critical understanding on how to use different molecular biology and ‘omic techniques.
Indicative lecture topics – based on module content in 2021/22

Introduction: gene, genome and evolution
	The regulatory toolkit: TF and signalling genes Eukaryotic RNA polymerases and transcription cycle
	Regulation of transcription: cis-regulatory elements and promoter logic Evolution and computational analysis of cis-regulatory sequence Comparative and evolutionary genomics
	The ENCODE project
	RNA processing and stability
	Single cell gene expression analysis Genome regulation in Yeast
	Plant genomics and transposable elements Gene regulatory networks