Department of Genetics

Wayne V. Vedeckis, PhD
Interim Chair

The Department of Genetics is responsible for 15 hours on Human Medical Genetics, which are part of the Medical Biochemistry course (Biochemistry 100 ) provided by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The genetics lecture series begins with an overview of genomic medicine and a review of genome structure and function. The students are then introduced to topics in medical genetics that include patterns of inheritance, the molecular basis of genetic disease and molecular diagnostics, genetic variation in populations, human gene mapping for rare and common disorders, cancer genetics, clinical cytogenetics, gene therapy and pharmacogenetics, prenatal diagnosis, genetic counseling, and legal and ethical issues in genetic medicine. Additionally, a clinical genetics grand rounds familiarizes the students with the range of patients seen by clinical geneticists.