 |
|
This unit is for students who are interested in learning about humans and how humans interact with the rest of the living world. BIOL108 is designed for students who are not studying Biology, but Biology students are also recommended to take this unit. The unit content is dealt with in such a way that students without prior studies in biology will not be at a disadvantage.
The aim of BIOL108 is to give you the ability to think critically about biological problems. Many of the major issues of our times are, at their heart, biological in nature. To understand the principles and issues behind topics such as genetic engineering, global climate change, cloning, or the emergence of new human diseases requires a basic familiarity with modern biological knowledge. We aim to equip you with this knowledge and at the same time give you an appreciation for the mystery and diversity of life on this planet
BIOL108 will lead you through the components and characteristics of life, starting with the building blocks of living things, and working upwards to individuals, species, and ultimately to the whole biosphere. Along the way we will deal with the make-up of cells, the function of the various organ systems, topics in human fertility and reproduction, human diseases, genetics and immunology. In the latter half of the Unit we will place humans in their context within the natural world, examining their evolution and interactions with the rest of the biosphere. At each point we will relate the information presented to topics of current relevance, such as genetically modified organisms, conservation, biodiversity or the greenhouse effect.