The first part of the class, phylogenetic analysis of the unknown gene, is sort of difficult because the gene is previously uncharacterized and you have to justify its placement in a tree and how it relates to a homologous gene in another organism. Lectures aren't bruincasted, so you may have to harass your TAs in the lab for tips to get you started (But don't harass them too much, they're kind and one of the highlights of the course!) This was the first quarter that the class worked individually on the gene hybridization, but I preferred it that way because I got to learn each technique in more detail. The downside is that you have to do many of the steps yourself, including redoing PCR if it fails, remaking PCR products if you run out, etc. Be prepared to come in quite often outside of class, especially week 7-9. Make friends with your bench if you want to keep your sanity by having them help with failed steps. If you finish early, you can potentially be done with the class by the end of week 9, which is really nice.

I personally have some mixed feelings about this class, but I took it for the lab requirement and ended up doing well. Befriending your group is SO important, because you will depend on each other a lot for sharing data and breaking up the workload when you need to make up experiments. You will also be doing a presentation on an experiment together, as well as a final presentation with all your data, so working well together on that is necessary.
You 100% will be coming in on your own time to keep your project on schedule, so try to keep your non-lab afternoons open. Her quizzes were manageable if you studied, she loves lecture participation and will call on you if you're not participating enough, and the midterm paper is a beast to write but I don't think she graded my class's papers too harshly. She can be a little blunt when critiquing you, but she's a really engaging lecturer and I liked the way she explained things during class. This class was definitely tough and time-consuming, so maybe schedule it during one of your lighter quarters, but I don't think it's as bad as some people make it out to be.

-one midterm paper, one group oral presentation, one group final presentation, weekly mini quizzes
-little bit of bioinformatics in the beginning and then all wet lab
*Take this class (besides getting lab credit) if you:
-want to get DIFFERENT types of research experience (I was in a research lab and I mostly did protein stuff but in 104AL, you do more of DNA/RNA stuff)
-want to experience the wet lab life (ie. 8+ hrs in lab/week)
*Don't take this class (yet) if you:
-have a busy schedule
-don't work well in a team (there is a lot of group work and communication within your team)
*Tips:
-know your team mates early on
-keep your non-lab days relatively free in the afternoon because if you fail experiments, its really helpful for you to come in and catch up
-communication!!
-read the manual before lab/class
-plan with your group esp. the last couple weeks