MCD BIO 144
Molecular Biology of Cellular Processes and Experimental Applications of Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: Life Sciences 3, 4, 23L. Not open for credit to students with credit for Chemistry 153B. Development of thorough understanding of fundamentals of modern molecular biology both from perspective of known molecular mechanisms for regulating fundamental processes in cells and from theoretical applied perspective for using molecular biology as laboratory tool. Special emphasis on molecular mechanisms that relate to chromatin and histone modifications, DNA replication and repair, transposition, microRNAs, meiosis, and splicing. Application of molecular biology as tool to understand embryonic development, reprogramming, cancer, and stem cells. Development of sophisticated understanding of DNA, RNA, and protein as well as capability of designing experiments to address fundamental questions in biology and interpreting experimental data. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - Out of the 3 courses I have taken for my core MCDB classes, I would say that by far my most favorite class had to be MCDB 144 with Dr. Clark. As opposed to the professors I had for 165a and 138, Dr. Clark ensured that this class was not us memorizing a bunch of pathways but rather understanding the big idea behind topics covered in class and being able to design experiments. There is only 1 midterm in this class (~5th week) and it is worth 35%. The exams have two "sections," the first section involves short answer questions and this usually entails 1 sentence answers or even one word answers depending on the question. The second section of the exam is the "long answer" portion and this greatly focuses on being able to interpret the data presented while also being able to outline designing an experiment to test a particular idea. Overall, I greatly enjoyed MCDB 144 with Dr. Clark and I would definitely recommend this professor to any person that is seeking to take a class with a very caring and direct professor.
Winter 2017 - Out of the 3 courses I have taken for my core MCDB classes, I would say that by far my most favorite class had to be MCDB 144 with Dr. Clark. As opposed to the professors I had for 165a and 138, Dr. Clark ensured that this class was not us memorizing a bunch of pathways but rather understanding the big idea behind topics covered in class and being able to design experiments. There is only 1 midterm in this class (~5th week) and it is worth 35%. The exams have two "sections," the first section involves short answer questions and this usually entails 1 sentence answers or even one word answers depending on the question. The second section of the exam is the "long answer" portion and this greatly focuses on being able to interpret the data presented while also being able to outline designing an experiment to test a particular idea. Overall, I greatly enjoyed MCDB 144 with Dr. Clark and I would definitely recommend this professor to any person that is seeking to take a class with a very caring and direct professor.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - The professor does not accommodate student conditions, especially during covid-19. He takes an incredibly long time to reply to emails (if ever), his "practice exams" were rushed and did not even have a mark scheme, and you have nothing to use for studying for the exam aside from his slides. His final contains many questions that were incredibly difficult to answer from simply learning the slides. The grade distributions were also quite bad this quarter (don't believe the grade distributions from previous years!!): 0% A+ 7.1% A 14.3% A- 7.1% B+ 38% B 14.3% B- 19% C+ This professor makes MCDB 138 and MCDB 165A seem like incredibly organized and relatively easy classes.
Fall 2020 - The professor does not accommodate student conditions, especially during covid-19. He takes an incredibly long time to reply to emails (if ever), his "practice exams" were rushed and did not even have a mark scheme, and you have nothing to use for studying for the exam aside from his slides. His final contains many questions that were incredibly difficult to answer from simply learning the slides. The grade distributions were also quite bad this quarter (don't believe the grade distributions from previous years!!): 0% A+ 7.1% A 14.3% A- 7.1% B+ 38% B 14.3% B- 19% C+ This professor makes MCDB 138 and MCDB 165A seem like incredibly organized and relatively easy classes.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Honestly, he is one of the worst professor I had in UCLA. I have 3Bs in UCLA. This was the last quarter before summer session and I took 4 classes. But this class was very last class and I knew how to study for science courses and I didn't really worry about this course on the first place. My thought towards this class was wrong. Regardless how much effort you put into this class, you can't really prepare for the exam. His previous exams do not help at all. You can't really prepare for his exam because he doesn't explain anything deep. Also, he brings new type of question that you were never exposed to. As a result, you can't really prepare in terms of exam question. Studying lecture material is just good enough to answer first simple multiple choices regarding lectures. Also, his poor exam system separates A and B students. Since most questions were multiple choice and there were problems meant to get wrong, students had to choose the answer without any educational guess and people who were lucky got A. I got A or A- for all mcdb classes. Maybe, he wasn't right professor for me.
Spring 2016 - Honestly, he is one of the worst professor I had in UCLA. I have 3Bs in UCLA. This was the last quarter before summer session and I took 4 classes. But this class was very last class and I knew how to study for science courses and I didn't really worry about this course on the first place. My thought towards this class was wrong. Regardless how much effort you put into this class, you can't really prepare for the exam. His previous exams do not help at all. You can't really prepare for his exam because he doesn't explain anything deep. Also, he brings new type of question that you were never exposed to. As a result, you can't really prepare in terms of exam question. Studying lecture material is just good enough to answer first simple multiple choices regarding lectures. Also, his poor exam system separates A and B students. Since most questions were multiple choice and there were problems meant to get wrong, students had to choose the answer without any educational guess and people who were lucky got A. I got A or A- for all mcdb classes. Maybe, he wasn't right professor for me.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - Dr. Prunet is a good professor. Although he isn't the most clear due to his accent, you can understand him, and he is more than patient to repeat anything you missed. He is also very happy to answer any questions you have. The lectures are organized and very clear. As far as the class goes, the tests mostly focused on understanding the experiments in the papers read for homework (although I heard from friends that the tests have changed a bit since I took it). I heard now they placed a bit more weight on memorizing the content in the lectures, but when I took it, there was very few questions on the actual lectures for the midterm and finals, and more emphasis on the papers.
Fall 2018 - Dr. Prunet is a good professor. Although he isn't the most clear due to his accent, you can understand him, and he is more than patient to repeat anything you missed. He is also very happy to answer any questions you have. The lectures are organized and very clear. As far as the class goes, the tests mostly focused on understanding the experiments in the papers read for homework (although I heard from friends that the tests have changed a bit since I took it). I heard now they placed a bit more weight on memorizing the content in the lectures, but when I took it, there was very few questions on the actual lectures for the midterm and finals, and more emphasis on the papers.
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