Molecular Biology of the Cell II

This is the second half of cell biology, shifting from how a single cell runs itself to how cells decide their fate inside a multicellular body — dividing on cue, differentiating into specific lineages, defending the organism, or breaking those rules and becoming cancer. You will sit through lectures tying cyclin/CDK logic to checkpoints, stem cell niches, and immune recognition, while a mandatory lab block trains you on microscopy, flow cytometry, and proliferation/apoptosis assays you will actually use in any wet-lab MBG elective later. Assessment is two midterms plus a final, so the lab grade rides on attendance and reports rather than a separate exam. Together with MBG 301, it is the conceptual backbone the cancer biology, immunology, and developmental genetics electives all assume you already know.