Dr. Reichler's Bio 301M Spring 2010   Homework #1 due in class on W 2/3

Describe a specific gene.  Include the name of the gene, what organism(s) it is found in, what protein the gene codes for, and what is the function of the protein.  Also, find at least one scientific research article that relates to this gene. You can certainly use a mainstream news source or website to get ideas, but I want you to find at least one article of original research, written by the actual researchers, not a report by a journalist.  If you have any questions about the appropriateness of your choice, please ask.

To help us grade this assignment, please follow this format:

Class (Bio 301M) and class time

Your name

Description of gene

Use this format for your citation(s):  Article title, author’s name(s), journal title, volume, page number(s), and the date of publication

This assignment should not exceed 1 printed page, and must be word-processed/typed.  Do NOT attach the article; using the citation I can look up the article online.

Be certain to cite any outside sources that you use.  Using outside sources is fine, but not citing those sources is plagiarism.  This homework will be graded on a scale of 0-1 points.  The typed/word-processed paper should be printed and turned in during class on Feb. 3.  I will subtract 0.2 points for each day late.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Finding an article:  There are several search engines that exclusively search scientific journals.  The one I most commonly use is the "Web of Science".  It can be found via the UT library website at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/indexes/titles.html?let=W.  If this link does not work, go to the UT library website and look under "Databases & Indexes to Articles".  Most of the articles found via the "Web of Science" should be acceptable for this assignment.  Another good Database is Pubmed found at Pubmed.gov.
    You may not understand everything in the article, and that is ok.  Most articles are broken down into these sections:  The 'abstract' contains a summary of the article  It can be helpful, but other times the summary is very dense.  The 'introduction' has background information and the rationale for the research.  This is probably where you can find most of the information for the assignment and enough background to comprehend the basic concepts.  The 'results' will include the actual data and may be more detail that you need.  The 'discussion' will recap the results and give some context for what it means.  The 'material and methods' covers the actual manner in which the experiment was done, and will probably not have much useful information for this assignment.  You do not need to understand everything in the article, but just enough to decide whether the subject matter is appropriate for class.  If you have questions, please ask.