Gene Expression Regulation: Transcription Factors, Epigenetics, and Cell Differentiation
Students will explore different types of mutations and their potential effects on gene expression and organismal traits.
Key Questions
- Explain how transcription factors regulate eukaryotic gene expression by binding enhancers and promoters, and analyse how combinatorial control — where different combinations of transcription factors specify distinct transcriptional outcomes — enables a limited number of regulators to drive the diversity of cell types in a multicellular organism.
- Compare the lac operon model of prokaryotic gene regulation with eukaryotic enhancer-promoter regulation, evaluating the limitations of the operon model for explaining the spatial and temporal complexity of gene expression during eukaryotic development.
- Evaluate the role of epigenetic modifications — DNA methylation at CpG sites and histone acetylation or deacetylation — in controlling gene expression without altering DNA sequence, referencing cell differentiation, X-chromosome inactivation, and genomic imprinting as examples.
MOE Syllabus Outcomes
Suggested Methodologies
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