Course Descriptions

Description: Circadian rhythms are highly conserved across species, allowing organisms to synchronize internal processes and anticipate regular environmental changes. This mini-course will cover the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which organisms keep time. Understanding how circadian rhythms impact organismal physiology is critical to robust experimental design across many disciplines, as these rhythms affect numerous process from overt behaviors to cellular physiology. This course will cover fundamental properties of biological rhythms at the molecular, cellular, organ, and organism levels. Readings will introduce students to primary literature in the circadian field to gain an understanding of experimental methods in chronobiology from molecules to behaviors in diverse organisms.