This course gives fundamentals of diverse fileds of life science and introduction of current topics. The course cover fundamentals of development, structure of nucleic acids and proteins, architecture of genes and genomes, central dogma (gene expression), cell structures, and DNA replication, as well as current topics such as stem cells and cancer therapies. This course aims to provide fundamental knowledge on life sciences as the basis not only for advanced life sciences but also for broad fields in science and technology.
By the end of this course, students will understand the fundamentals of life sciences, which shall be the basis for various fields in advanced science and technology. In addition, the students will understand current topics related to life sciences more deeply.
biology, photosynthesis, brain, immune system, virus
✔ Specialist skills | ✔ Intercultural skills | Communication skills | Critical thinking skills | Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
Students will learn the topics with a textbook, Powerpoint slides, and handouts. Students are divided into eight classes (in Japanese) and one class (in English). Students attend one class per week.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | Three domains (Eucarya, Bacteria, Archaea) and viruses | Understand the differences among eucarya, bacteria, archaea, and viruses |
Class 2 | Structure and functions of sugars, lipids, and biomembranes | Understand the basic structures and functional importance of sugars, lipids and biomembranes |
Class 3 | Respiration and energy conservation | Understand the basic mechanisms of respiration and energy conservation |
Class 4 | Structure of plant cell, photosynthesis, and biofuels | Understand the structure of plant cells and basic mechanisms of photosynthesis |
Class 5 | Immune system, vaccine, and infectious disease | Understand the basic mechanisms of immune systems |
Class 6 | Structure and functions of brain, nervous and endocrine systems | Understand the basic structures and functiones of brain, nervous and endocrine systems |
Class 7 | Sensory mechanisms | Understand the basic mechanisms of sensory systems |
Class 8 | Integral study | Unify the knowledge learned in Classes 1 to 7 |
"Biology", C. Starr, C.A. Evers, L. Starr
"Introduction to Biology", MIT OpenCourseWare
Learning achievement is evaluated by a final exam.
The prerequisite to take this course is that you have acquired the credits of "Fundamental Life Science 1-1".
Without having acquired the credits of the above course, the credits of this course will not be counted as the necessary number of credits for graduation.
This is the prerequisite course to take "Fundamental Life Science 2-1","Fundamental Life Science 2-2" or "Fundamental Life Science Laboratory".
Students must have completed Fundamental Life Science 1-1.