Problem sets are provided for weeks 2-3 and 8-12, and expected to take ~2 hours to complete. They will be released on Monday mornings and due at midnight Sunday night. Note that ilearn will release answers once the quizzes close, so late submissions will not be possible for problem sets.

The bioinformatics report is a short piece of work students will create using the skills they learn in bioinformatics practicals in weeks 4-6. Students will be provided a gene and patient sequences, and are expected to analyse and interpret the clinical significance of mutations found in these sequences. Note that a small part of the assignment (mutation identifications) needs to be submitted in week 5, and your bioinformatics report submitted in week 7.

The topic essay is an extended response to a selection of questions which will be provided in the second half of the semester. This essay should show a clear understanding of the genetics involved, as well as clinical and ethical considerations of the topic. Note that students are able to come up with their own question in consultation with the unit convenor, if they have a particular area of interest.

The final exam will have short answer and problem set style questions covering content from the entire unit.

Plagiarism: All written work must be in the student’s own words. Assessments submitted via Turnitin will be subjected to plagiarism detection. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Penalties for plagiarism range from loss of marks to awarding of a zero, depending upon the level of plagiarism, and reporting to the Faculty Disciplinary Committee.

Late submissions: Assessments submitted after the due date and without an approved Special Consideration will be penalised 10% of the total mark per day late. For example, if a student achieves a mark of 15/20 for an assignment submitted two days late, their penalty is -4 marks, and they will receive a final mark of 11/20.

Online Unit: We are providing an online-only offering of BIOL3120 this year. There will be two lectures and a tutorial or practical provided online each week.

Note that support will be available from the unit convenor via Skype/Zoom, and in-person assistance may be possible depending on staff availability. There will be no difference for students enrolled as internal or external. For students who would prefer to take an internal unit, please consider taking BMOL3402 - Molecular Biology and Genomics, which is open to students who achieved a credit or better in BIOL206.