While the human genome sequence has transformed our understanding of human biology, it isn’t just the sequence of your DNA that matters, but also how you use it! How are some genes activated and others are silenced? How is this controlled? The answer is epigenetics.
Epigenetics has been a hot topic for research over the past decade as it has become clear that aberrant epigenetic control contributes to disease (particularly to cancer). Epigenetic alterations are heritable through cell division, and in some instances are able to behave similarly to mutations in terms of their stability. Importantly, unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic modifications are reversible and therefore have the potential to be manipulated therapeutically. It has also become clear in recent years that epigenetic modifications are sensitive to the environment (for example diet), which has sparked a large amount of public debate and research. This course will give an introduction to the fundamentals of epigenetic control. We will examine epigenetic phenomena that are manifestations of epigenetic control in several organisms, with a focus on mammals. We will examine the interplay between epigenetic control and the environment and finally the role of aberrant epigenetic control in disease. All necessary information will be covered in the lectures, and recommended and required readings will be provided. There are no additional required texts for this course. For those interested, additional information can be obtained in the following textbook. Epigenetics. Allis, Jenuwein, Reinberg and Caparros. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press. ISBN-13: 978-0879697242 | Edition: 1 The course will re-open in 2022.
HK
This course is well taught and some important concepts are repeated over and over again during the course so the concept lingers in the brain as if it was there already.
LM
The course is very interesting for those who like Genetics. The lectures are delivered in an understandable manner, and the motion pictures make everything clear right away.
AL
Excellent course by an expert in the field. Full appreciation requires a background in biochemistry and genetics, but still a lot can be learned by anyone with interest.
AS
A great learning platform. This was my first ever course on coursera and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. A big thank you to Dr. Marnie Blewitt for helping us learn in a fun way!
DS
This is an excellent course that introduces you to fundamental knowledge of several hot topics in the field of epigenetics. Dr. Blewitt herself studies X inactivation, and I learned so much!
HC
Very clear explanation of the concepts and details. I would say it is a difficult course for students from engineering background, even having some bioinfomatics and oncology courses background
B
It was very informative course and will help me in my future studies.In between week 3 was bit tough to understand and keep all things in mind. But overall course was amazing. Thank you.
ZL
Well constructed course and carefully designed questions. It is very useful for someone with biological and/or biomedical background to expand their knowledge on epigenetics!
DB
This was an AWESOME course. Really exciting, interesting, AND surprising, I never thought there's that much to talk about in epigenetics! I'm going to recommend it, definitely :)
TW
Very informative! Before starting this course I didn't even know epigenetics was a word. Now I feel I have a very good grasp of the basics of one of the core concepts of genetics.
MK
Absolutely amazing experience! Every week was very captivating . Focus is on concepts and assignments test the understanding of them. Thank you Dr. Blewitt!!
AD
Amazingly structured and delivered course by the entire team. Including a few practical assays or how to read some of the assay results related to epigenetic techniques would be welcome.
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This course was new to me. All the concepts were explained in a very simplified manner. I am very happy to have done this course and find it a very interesting field to take upm in my future career.
Very clear explanation of the concepts and details. I would say it is a difficult course for students from engineering background, even having some bioinfomatics and oncology courses background
Update the reading for the final assignment. It is too old and updating it would be an easy fix. I am not going to finish the certificate as the final paper is 7 years ago. Go Boomer. Sad
This is the best course on coursera, 10/10. I wish it was longer and I could take it all over again. you will need background knowledge for this course but it is an amazing course and I will miss it.
This is an excellent course that introduces you to fundamental knowledge of several hot topics in the field of epigenetics. Dr. Blewitt herself studies X inactivation, and I learned so much!
The information is presented in a clear way and haves an apropiate level of difficulty. My problem is that the method of evaluation, with only multiple choice answers, is very lazy and easy.
Definitely an enchanting learning experience. This course expresses thoughts on epigenetics and how it could be the key to solve menacing threats such as cancer. It starts with a brief history and remarkable discoveries by scientists, followed by its mechanism, case studies in animal models, cohort studies, and eventually its implementation in cancer therapy. It is very intriguing filled with quizzes, learning resources (podcasts, debates, research findings, interviews, and newspaper articles) and not to mention the ever-growing learning community. Highly recommended for aspirants of biology and those who want to understand life better. I am grateful to Dr. Marnie Blewitt, the curator, Ms. Natasha Jansz, the moderator, and her colleagues and also the University of Melbourne for an excellent journey of learning.
Great course on a very interesting subject. Well constructed, with clear explanations, nice supports, wonderful contents. I love it. The level of difficulty increases with each chapters but regurlarly, so it's relatively easy. Great teacher, she seems passionate about what she does even though it is difficult to be passionate alone in front of a camera… She sometimes end on a little opening on the researches on the subject, especially the ones done in her own lab, which I think is very interesting. Thank you for this amazing course! I recommend it to everyone interested in genetics, epigenetics or who wants to know the relatively new discoveries in the field.
A great learning platform. This was my first ever course on coursera and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. A big thank you to Dr. Marnie Blewitt for helping us learn in a fun way!
It is a wonderful course to learn about epigenetics. I recommend everyone to take this course.
Truly a great course. Dr. Marnie Blewitt has been an amazing instructor.
Fantastic course excelente teacher thanks.
A brilliant course which enables students to understand the fundamentals of Epigenetics. This was my first online course and I am delighted to say that it was a wonderful experience and I gained immense insight into the field of Epigenetics. I'd strongly recommend it to prospective students and academicians.
A highly informative course. It provides a base for the people who are associated with epigenetic study. I enjoyed this course and enhanced my knowledge in the area of epigenetics. I will recommend other people who are willing to start their career in the field of epigenetics, they can join the course.
Very good and useful
It is a very interesting subject and very necessary to learn nowadays when studying anything with genetics as it relates profoundly. But it should have been updated a while ago. I did it in 2020 which is fine but for 2024 it's not a good idea since even for 2020 it was not up to date and this field has changed a lot with new techniques and all.
boring lecturer, monotone, passionless reading of even more boring powerpoint slides and images, and absolutely no intelligent discussion going on in this course, I have learned more from reading the book "the epigenetics revolution " by nessa carey, a book written for laypersons, than I have from this course taught by university professors. don't waste your time
the whole lecture given by the lecturer is so confused. And really boring by her monotone. There is almost no connections between slides and the explanation is so unconvinced. Also, it will be better if the lecture can help recall previous slides when talking about relative definition or trying to explain something. wasted my time to be honest
This class was an excellent (more advanced) exploration into the world of epigenetic gene expression. For someone who works in the genetics industry, this class came full circle for me and actually taught me the mechanisms that are related to some of the processes we complete on client samples.
This class is very content heavy, but it is all valuable and clearly articulated. The lectures are well organized and the quizzes are valuable in that they test your ability to understand the material, not just regurgitate information.
I highly recommend this course for anyone willing to put in the time to learn epigenetics on this molecular level.
This course is wonderful: Quality of contents, level/depth and instructor's experience/way of teaching. I saw this course first time in 2016 and its couple of lectures were enough to give me a direction for my Masters thesis. This time, I wanted to complete it all the way and Alhamdulillah a dream came true: I have learnt a lot of things which I had no idea about (mere couple of months ago). In terms of quality and rarity of available material on this subject, I have no qualms about rating it as the Best Course ever on MOOC!