”The Extremes of Life: Microbes and Their Diversity”
The first version of this course was originally produced and operated from November 19,
Instructors: Haruyuki Atomi
See "Meet the Course Staff" section for more details.
Course Description
Life on our planet is diverse. While we can easily recognize this in our everyday surroundings, an even more diverse world of life can be seen when we look under a microscope. This is the world of microorganisms. Microorganisms are everywhere, and although some are notorious for their roles in human disease, many play important roles in sustaining our global environment. Among the wide variety of microorganisms, here we will explore those that thrive in the most extreme environments, the extremophiles.
In this course, we will discover how diverse life is on our planet and consider the basic principles that govern evolution. We will also learn how we can classify organisms. Following this, we will have a look at several examples of extreme environments, and introduce the microorganisms that thrive under these harsh conditions. We will lay emphasis on the thermophiles, extremophiles that grow at high temperatures and will study how proteins from thermophiles can maintain their structure and function at high temperatures.
What you'll learn
- Basic principles of evolution
- Recognition of the diversity of life
- Methods to classify organisms
- Basic knowledge of extremophiles
- Principles that govern protein stability
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of biology equivalent to the junior high school level.
Lectures
Each course will be provided with short Lecture Videos by the instructor, Haruyuki Atomi along with a set of short Problems related to the contents of the Lecture Videos. By watching the videos and answering the Problems, we hope that all participants will gain some basic knowledge on extremophiles and their lifestyles. We also hope that the participants will recognize how diverse the microbial world is, and how little we actually know about it.
You are invited to participate in the Discussion forum to share ideas and ask questions each peers relating to each of the course’s contents. We hope this opportunity will lead to fruitful exchanges and discussion.
Assignments and Grading Criteria
To earn a certificate for the course, students must mark the score of 60% or more.
Problems and Completion Checklist assigned every week, count for 64% and 12% in total, respectively. During this course, learners are asked to work on three Homework assignments. The total of Homework counts for 24% (8% for each Homework assignment).
- Problems: 64%
-Due date: End of course
- Completion Checklist: 12%
-Due date: End of course
- Homework 1: 8%
-Due date: End of course
- Homework 2: 8%
-Due date: End of course
- Homework 3: 8%
-Due date: End of course
If you are on the verified track and mark the passing score, certificates will be issued by edX under the name of KyotoUx after completion of the course.
Please pay attention to due dates of each Problem, Homework, and so on. To avoid any kinds of unexpected troubles including the Internet disconnection, we strongly recommend all learners to submit them with time to spare.
Course Schedule
|
Week |
Topic |
Homework |
|
1 |
Evolution and the Diversity of Life
|
Yes |
|
2 |
Life in Boiling Water
|
Yes |
|
3 |
Diversity of Extremophiles
|
Yes |
|
4 |
Genome Sequences
|
No |
This course will end on Monday, July 31, 2017.