BIOLOGY 5248/G - IMMUNOLOGY
Spring 2005

Professor: Dr. Oscar Pung, Office MP 3056, Phone 681-5857, E-mail opung@georgiasouthern.edu, Office Hours MF 9-10 am

Textbook: Goldsby, Kindt, Osborne, and Kuby. Immunology. W.H. Freeman and Co., 5th Edition, 2003. (There is no laboratory textbook. Handouts will be provided).

Course Goals and Objectives: To instill an appreciation of current immunological paradigms, students will be exposed to the landmark experiments that underlie the theoretical framework of immunology. Traditional lectures and exams will be supplemented with discussions of experimental design and data interpretation, thus encouraging students to develop skills needed to critically read current immunology literature. Labs are designed to give students the opportunity to learn the special techniques used to study the immune system while simultaneously learning how to make observations, record data and analyze results.

Attendance Policy and Timeliness: Attendance will occasionally be taken in lecture. If you miss lecture, your test and participation grades will suffer. Attendance in labs is required. Absences from the lab will be excused only if notice is given to the instructor 24 hours in advance. Otherwise, you will receive 3 points off your final course grade for each unexcused lab absence. Make every effort to arrive on time. If you do arrive late for lecture, please sit on the right hand side of the lecture hall. Timeliness is part of the participation grade.
Tentative Sequence of Lecture Topics: Chapters in text: 1-5, 11, 13, 7-10, 12, 14-16, 19-22; Portions of chapters 2, 6 and 23 will be covered in lab.

Tentative Laboratory Topics
General Lab techniques: Dilutions, Microscopy, Cell counting, Staining techniques, Aseptic technique for cell culture
Antibody tests: Ouchterlony, Quantitative immunodiffusion, Hemagglutination, Enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays, One-step latex bead assays
Cells of the Immune System: Differential cell counts, Hematocrit, Phagocytosis, Lymphocyte culture

Important Dates:
February 2, Exam 1 (during laboratory period)
March 2, Exam 2 (during laboratory period)
March 7, Last day to withdraw without penalty
April 6, No laboratory (SSP Meeting)
April 8, No lecture (SSP Meeting)
April 13 Exam 3 (during laboratory period)
May 6 at 7:30 am, Cumulative final

Academic Dishonesty: Students suspected of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Judicial Affairs Office and, if found guilty, will receive a grade of zero for the work in question.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT REQUIREMENTS
Exams: Three exams and 1 final will be given during the semester. Each will include lecture and laboratory material. The lab portion of these tests, but NOT the lecture portion, will open notebook. In this course, new information builds upon previous information and on each exam students will be responsible for any pertinent material that was covered on previous exams. Final Exam is comprehensive.
Lecture: Students may lead a discussion of up to 2 text figures for 1.5% extra credit each.
Laboratory: A detailed laboratory notebook and a short technical presentation are required.
Grades: 4 Tests (each worth 20%) 80%
Participation 5%
Lab technical presentation 5%
Laboratory notebook 10%
Total 100%

GRADUATE STUDENT REQUIREMENTS
Students receiving credit for BIOL 5248G will be expected to meet all the requirements of BIOL 5248 and, in addition, to complete a graduate project. These projects will be determined by the professor in conference with the graduate student and will be selected according to the interests of the student. The projects will constitute 5% of the grade in lieu of a participation grade and might be research papers, oral presentations to the class, and/or independent, directed laboratory exercises.

LABORATORY NOTEBOOK
Each student should maintain a detailed lab notebook, which will count towards 10% of the course grade. This lab book is intended to serve as a detailed diary of the protocols, discussions, experiments and results pertaining to each of the lab exercises performed during the semester. Exercises should be written up each week in a blue lab book and may be either in pencil or pen. Legibility, neatness, and organization are important, as are correct spelling and grammar. Handouts do not need to be recopied into the lab book but may be cut and pasted or taped into the appropriate section. Work with lab partners to put together findings and other materials but write up each exercise in your own words. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Do not loan out your finished product for others to copy. Lab books will be checked at midterm. Completed lab books are due in class on the last day of lecture.

Read this section carefully. For each lab exercise
your notebook should contain the following:
I. Title
Brief and descriptive. Example: Lab Exercise #4 - Effects of Aflatoxin M1 on the Immune Responses of Cockroaches to Plasmodium geosoutherian.

II. Introduction
Describes the purpose of the lab exercise and includes background information presented by the instructor or included in handouts. A minimum of 2 paragraphs in length.

III. Materials and Methods
Describes the supplies used and how the experiment or technique was performed. Should be sufficiently detailed to permit another person to duplicate the work.

IV. Results
A written account of observations, findings, and raw data. (An excellent Results section also presents data in the form of drawings, graphs or tables where appropriate. Drawings, tables, and graphs are numbered and have their own brief titles.)

V. Discussion
A summary of what was learned from both methodological and principles standpoints. Also describes problems encountered and possible solutions. A minimum of three paragraphs long. This section is NOT a platform for a discussion of how you felt about the lab. You may describe ways the lab could be improved when you do the Course Evaluation at the end of the semester.

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