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Goals:This course will provide you with fundamental information about the immune system, a remarkably dynamic system that enables us to defend ourselves against pathogens, even those that have yet to evolve. It will focus on the experimental history and experimental appraoches that have helped and will help to unravel the many mysteries that characterize the immune system.

An understanding of immunology, a relatively young field once considered a 'fringe' science, is now fundamental to an understanding of many other fields of study. It shares approaches, themes, and molecules with developmental biology, genetics, cellular biology, neurobiology, even plant biology and is critical in our understanding of medicine. The material covered in an immunology course can be difficult and cryptic and will require time and effort to master. It is my job to help you digest and demystify the information (and the horrible jargon) and to provide you not only with basic information but with tools that will help you decipher the most complex information. It will be your job to patiently apply the effort to master the vocabulary and critically evaluate the information, much of which is not "written in stone".

Requirements: Your grade will be determined by your performance on three sets of assignments 1) four written assignments (worth a total of 30%), three in-class 30' quizzes (worth a total of 30%), and one analysis of a manuscript (resulting in an annotated pdf - also worth a total of 30%). The remaining 10% of your grade will be based on class participation (interactions with classmates or with me).

The four written assignments will focus on a pathogen (virus, bacteria, fungus, protozoa, worm, or ....) that you 'adopt' during the first week. Over the course of the quarter you will gain a familiarity and expertise with your pathogen and your essays together will represent a mini-chapter on the immune response to that pathogen (a mini-chapter that could be a part of a basic immunology text). Each essay will be a subsection of that chapter (How the pathogen causes disease, How the innate immune system manages the pathogen, How the adaptive (acquired) immune system manages the disease, How the pathogen dodges the immune system). Each essay has a due date (Nov. 1, Nov 15, Dec 1, and 10, but you are free to hand it in any time before that date). You may discuss the content of your essay with anyone, of course - and can even work with someone with a similar pathogen-interest to develop your essay ideas. You are to write the final essay in your own words (approximately 500 of them). I will return these to you on the Friday after you hand them in.
The quizzes (30%) will focus on fundamental vocabulary and concepts and will be taken in class. They will be closed note, closed book, but open discussion and timed (30').
The manuscript project (30%) will be based on a current or classic paper in the literature that you select (with my guidance). This is a project that you can do with a partner if you wish. You will read the manuscript, work to understand the question the investigators asked, their approach, and their conclusions. You may even choose to communicate with the investigator to clarify questions you have with the work. You are then asked to turn in an annotated version of the manuscript (in PDF form) that highlights your insights and clarifies the approach and contributions it makes to the field. You can annotate with comments, figures, links, etc. - anything you think would help a fellow undergraduate appreciate the work. This project will be due at the end of exam week.