The goal of this course is provide students with an in-depth knowledge concerning the genetic effects of radiation and other environmental mutagens. Topics to be covered include: the molecular mechanisms of mutation and mutation repair, biomarkers and biomonitoring, genomic instability, transgenerational effects, and individual susceptibility. In addition to gaining a strong background in genotoxicology, students will learn to 1) interpret and evaluate genetic information from the current literature, 2) use genotoxicity assays and determine their appropriate application in research, 3) understand genetic risk assessment and how data from genetic assays are extrapolated to human health risk. Throughout the class, students will gain hands on experience with genotoxicology assays by conducting a laboratory project using DNA microsatellite loci to directly measure mutation rates in a model organism, the medaka fish, experimentally exposed to chronic low dose radiation.
This course will make use of two facilities present at SREL on the SRS: the Low-Dose Irradiation Facility (LoDIF) and the DNA laboratory. During the first lab session students will tour the LoDIF and learn about the medaka fish as a model organism. The LoDIF is a one-of-a-kind facility consisting of 40 outdoor mesocosms equipped with 137Cs irradiation sources designed to provide three different biologically relevant exposure levels for use in evaluating the long-term impact of chronic low-level radiation exposure. Medaka fish have been studied at the Lo-Dif for 7 years and previous studies at SREL demonstrated that offspring from irradiated male medaka parents have elevated mutation frequencies relative to unirradiated controls. At present the medaka colony is being used to examine the transgenerational effects of radiation exposure and the colony is on its 6th generation of exposure. Students in this class will be directly involved in measuring mutation rates in medaka from the ongoing study. Students will spend two days per week working in the SREL DNA laboratory where they will learn how to extract DNA, genotype microsatellite loci, and measure mutation rates. Students will use high-throughput DNA technologies including ABI 96-well thermocyclers and an ABI 3130 automated sequencer, and GeneMapper software to analyze microsatellites.
|Monday||Introduction/review of DNA structure & biochemistry|
|Tuesday||Trip to LoDIF facility/ Introduction to Medaka as a model organism|
|Wednesday||DNA damage and repair; DNA adducts and mutations|
|Thursday||DNA extraction of Medaka samples/Intro to biomarkers|
|Monday||Radiation and mutagenesis|
|Tuesday||PCR of microsatellite loci in Medaka/Biomonitoring|
|Wednesday||Epigenetics, carcinogenesis and cell cycle|
|Thursday||Epigenetics, carcinogenesis & cell cycle|
|Monday||Transgenerational effects, susceptibility & polymorphisms|
|Tuesday||Data analysis: measuring mutation rates, experimental design, and extrapolation of data from genetic assays to human genotoxicological risk|
|Wednesday||Genomics & the future of assessing molecular effects of environmental mutagens|
|Thursday||Implications of mutations to population genetics, adaptation, and evolution|
For more information contact Dr. John Seaman, seaman(at)srel.uga.edu.