Academic year: 2025-26
Course: Foundation Course Science
Credits: 6
Period: first and second semester
Number of hours: 48
Teacher(s): Stefano Landi (stefano.landi@unipi.it); Cosmeri Anna Rizzato (cosmeri.rizzato@unipi.it)
Language of instruction: English
Syllabus
Themes and Concepts studied by biologists.
Basis of chemistry for biology. Atoms, Isotopes, Ions, and Molecules. Water and Carbon. Mrocromolecules:
carbohydrates. Basis of chemistry for biology. Macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, Protein and Nucleic
acids. Description of the prokaryotic cell.
Description of a Eukaryotic cell. Cytology and organels. Differences between plant and animal cells.
Differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Cell membrane, Cytoplasm, nuclear envelope,
peroxisomes, lysosomes, mytochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum (rough and smooth), nucleolus,
microfilaments, microtubules, chloroplast, nucleous, Golgi apparatus. Cellular wall.
Cell structure: Cytoskeleton, connections between Cells and Cellular Activities. Structure and function of
plasma membranes: Components and structure. Passive and active transport. Bulk transport.
Endoergonics and exoergonics reactions. Management of the energetic flux within the cell. Entalpy and
entropy. Free Gibb’s Energy and activation energy. Enzymes and catalysis. Enzymes, Catalysis. Minimal
concepts of biochemistry for understanding the bases of cellular respiration. ATP production via glycolysis
and via oxidative phosphorilation. Autotrophs and heterotrophs organisms. The photosynthesis equation.
Input reagents and output products of photosynthesis.
Introduction to the cell division. Karyotypes and chromosomes. Cell Division. The Cell Cycle. Interphase. The
Mitotic Phase. Control of the Cell Cycle. Regulation of the Cell Cycle by External Events. Regulation at
Internal Checkpoints. Regulator Molecules of the Cell Cycle. Positive Regulation of the Cell Cycle. Negative
Regulation of the Cell Cycle. Cancer and the Cell Cycle. Proto-oncogenes. Tumor Suppressor Genes.
Prokaryotic Cell Division. The Process of Meiosis. Sexual Reproduction Life Cycles of Sexually Reproducing
Organisms. Diploid-Dominant Life Cycle. Haploid-Dominant Life Cycle.
Mendel’s Experiments: Mendelian crosses and the Laws of Probability. Characteristics and Traits.
Phenotypes and Genotypes. The Punnett Square Approach for a Monohybrid Cross. Alternatives to
Dominance and Recessiveness. Laws of Inheritance. Chromosomal Theory and Genetic Linkages: Genetic
Linkage and Distances. Chromosomal Basis of Inherited Disorders: Duplications and Deletions.
Chromosomal Structural Rearrangements: inversion, translocation.
DNA structure and function. The Chargaff’s Rule. Structure of nucleotides. The double helix. The
semiconservative replication of DNA. Model of DNA replication. Replication fork, Okazaki fragments,
leading strand, lagging strand. DNA polymerases and “proof reading activity”. DNA base Mismatch repair.
other DNA repair systems (nucleotide and base excision repair). The problem of the replication of telomers.
Telomerase. Uncorrected replication errors result in mutations. Same-sense, silent, missense, nonsense,
frameshift mutations. DNA structure: prokaryotes vs eukaryotes. Chromatin. How DNA works: the central
dogma of biology. The denetic code and its degeneration. The steps of transcription in prokaryotes and
eukaryotes. The promoter (initiation) the elongation (RNA polymerases) and the termination. mRNA
maturation and processing in eukaryotes. Capping. poly-A tailing and splicing.
Protein synthesis. The peptide bond. The amino (NH2) -acid (-COOH) with its lateral group and the alphacarbon. The translation process: initiation (steps of ribosome assembly), elongation, termination. The steps
of the assembly of ribosomes, the elongation: the steps of synthesis inside the ribosome (sites E, P, A).
Direction of synthesis, collinearity between mRNA and protein. The regulation of gene expression. Levels of
gene regulation in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes. Regulation at transcription (initiation), mRNA
maturation, RNA transport, RNA stability, RNA translation, and post-translational modification level in
eukaryotes. Prokaryotes: the presence of operons and their regulation. Examples of trp and lac operons.
Repressors, operators, promoters, effectors, inducers. The role of CAP-protein in bacteria. Epigenetic
regulation of transcription in eukaryotes. Histone and cytosine methylation, chemical modifications of
chromatine for regulating genes.
Viral Evolution, Morphology, and Classification. Virus Infection and Hosts. Other Acellular Entities: Prions
and Viroids. Prokaryotic Diversity. Structure of Prokaryotes. Prokaryotic Metabolism. Bacterial Diseases in
Humans
Animal Primary Tissues. Digestive Systems. The endocrine system.
General concepts of physiology and anatomy. The description of the neuron and the glial cells. Neuronal
communications, circulatory and respiratory systems, Immune system, Reproductive system.