Biology

General skills The course deals with the extension of mendelian genetics to groups of individuals (populations). The main goal of the course is to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of within- and between-population genetic diversity and how it changes as a consequence of different evolutionary factors. The course requires knowledge of mendelian genetics, and basic knowledge of statistics and probability theory. The course includes both theoretical population genetics, based on simple mathematical models, and applied population genetics, where several case studies will be analyzed. During the course students will learn to use software for the simulation of evolutionary processes and for the calculation of population genetics parameters. Specific skills A) Knowledge and understanding - Knowledge of human, animal and plant genetic diversity - Knowledge and understanding of evolutionary factors - Knowledge and understanding of the main methods used to reconstruct the micro-evolutionary history of the populations - Knowledge and understanding of the main methods for the estimation of population genetics parameters B) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding - Be able to use specific terminology - Be able to adequately describe the genetic composition of individuals, populations and group of populations - Be able to give a statistical weight to the observations - Be able to recognize the evolutionary factors that shaped the genetic make-up of a population C) Making judgements Through the in-depth analysis of many case studies, the student will acquire critical judgement skills D) Communication skills -During the lessons, students will be encouraged to communicate and interact with the teacher and other students on different population genetic topics E) Learning ability -Learning the specific terminology -Be able to make the logical connections between the topics covered -Be able to identify the most relevant topics and to independently pursue the study of advanced topics in population genetics