Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Group

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Genetics and Gene Regulation

Overview | Requirements | Courses

Program Overview

Genetics is a discipline of central importance to the biomedical sciences. Genetic changes underlie many human health problems, from single gene “Mendelian” disorders to more complex traits such as diabetes, heart disease and psychiatric disorders. With the expanding availability of whole genome sequences, we know the gene content of many organisms and have significant information about genetic variation between species and between individuals. Indeed, we are now in an age where private companies offer personal genome sequencing. But what do all these sequences mean? What are the functions of all those predicted genes in development, metabolism or behavior? Which genetic variants are actually responsible for our phenotypic differences? Which variants predispose to disease? How do the different cells in your body know which genes to express, and how is this massive regulatory task accomplished? Can we manipulate gene expression patterns to generate desired cell types? These are the sorts of questions that modern genetics seeks to address.

The Genetics and Gene Regulation (GGR) program provides comprehensive training in model organism genetics, human and quantitative genetics, and gene regulation and epigenetics. There is a large and diverse community of geneticists on the UPenn campus that includes the Genetics Department as well as members of many other basic science and clinical departments at UPenn, Children’s Hospital, the Wistar Institute and the Fox Chase Cancer Center. GGR benefits from the support of an NIH-funded Predoctoral Training Grant . Activities sponsored by our program include Genetics journal clubs and topic clubs, seminars weekly student and postdoc research presentations, an annual career forum with alumni, an annual day-long Genetics Symposium, and a monthly “Final Friday” dinner and social gathering. GGR maintains close ties with the Genomics and Computational Biology (GCB) graduate group, and students with interests that span Genetics and Genomics can select coursework and dual mentors from both programs. Laboratories in the GGR program conduct research in a wide variety of areas, including:

human genetics
genetics of model organisms
developmental genetics
behavioral genetics and neurobiology
cancer genetics and signal transduction
genetics of diabetes and metabolism
animal modeling of human disease
transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation
epigenetics and chromatin
bioinformatics and genomics

(Click on a term to see laboratories working in that area)

Overview | Requirements | Courses

Program Requirements 

A list of all CAMB courses and their descriptions can be found here. Additional information may be found at http://www.med.upenn.edu/bgs/course_info.shtml.

Required Courses:

BIOM core courses (see Academic page)
CAMB 605 (see Academic page)
CAMB 550 (Genetic Principles)
GCB 535 (Introduction to Bioinformatics)
3 electives

NOTE: GCB 535 is now required, replacing the prior requirement for CAMB 608, which is now an elective

See Academic section of this site for more information on the CAMB graduate group's requirements and related topics.

Overview | Requirements | Courses

Program Courses 

Required program courses

CAMB 550: Genetic Principles
GCB 535: Introduction to BioInformatics

Elective program courses

CAMB 534: Seminar on current genetic research: Human Disease Modeling in Experimental Systems
CAMB 608: Seminar in Regulation of Eukaryotic Gene Expression
CAMB 630: Topics in Human Genetics and Disease
CAMB 752: Genomics

Suggested Elective Courses:

BIOL 446:Statistics for Biologists
BIOL/CAMB 483: Epigenetics
BIOM 520: BGS Biostatistics Workshop
CAMB 511: Principles of Development
NGG 578: Behavioral Genetics
CAMB 512: Cancer Genetics and Biology
CAMB 620: Thematic Concepts in Developmental Biology
CAMB 695: Scientific Writing
CAMB 697: The Biology of Stem Cells
GCB 536: Computational Biology

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