Biological Sciences

The course discusses principles of conservation as well as plant and animal protection and their application to the West African environment. Topics include management of renewable natural resources, conservation of plant genetic resources, pollution of the environment, the Ghana's Environmental Action Plan, climate change and other global environmental problems.

This course focuses on the evolution and diversity of organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes.

This course studies the basics and recent advances in ecology and evolution. 

The course covers the following topics: global change and plants; biogeography and global biodiversity patterns; animal group and social behavior; plant morphological plasticity caused by biological interactions; gene and genome duplication; heterospecific mating interactions; sexual selection and sexual conflict in animals; mathematical modeling of predator-prey dynamics; eDNA analysis and its application to ecological monitoring; dynamical-data analysis in ecology; physiological ecology of plants; ecology and evolution in tumors; dendrochronology, and adaptive evolution of plants in extreme environment.

This course provides students with a broad background in the principles of ecology. It covers ecology at different levels of organization including behavioral, physiological, evolutionary, population & community, and ecosystem ecology. Some other specialized topics are also discussed.

 

The course provides a study of the biological and social attributes of human beings and discusses anthropological perspective of human biology and social problems, as well as the progress of research in the field of anthropology. Topics include the interaction of geographical environment and genes to make humans walk upright on two legs; hair degeneration, developed sweat glands, brains and other unique physical characteristics; the genetic structure, history, language, culture and customs of various ethnic groups and tribes in the past and present; the formation of the Chinese nation and the historical, cultural, and genetic characteristics of various ethnic groups; human evolution and human health; the application in the field of forensic medicine; and future development, direction, and prospects of anthropology.

This course provides insight into the essentials of genetic and evolutionary models and their applications in biology, medicine, and psychology. It starts with the mechanisms that cause evolutionary change: natural selection, inheritance, and gene expression. In order to make these mechanisms understandable for students, the essentials of molecular, Mendel, and population genetics are discussed, followed by the evolution of life cycles, sex, and sexual selection. After discussing kin selection, this course uses genomic imprinting to explain genetic conflicts. Game theory is also used to explain the models that treat conflicts. The course finishes with the evolution of the human brain and the impact of evolutionary concepts in medicine. Introduction to Biology is a required prerequisite.

This course focuses on the molecular biology of cancer. We discuss in detail topics such as biology and genetics of cells and organisms, nature of cancer, tumor viruses, cellular oncogenes, growth factors, receptors and cancer, cytoplasmic signaling circuitry programs, tumor suppressor genes, pRb and control of the cell cycle clock, p53 and apoptosis, cell immortalization, maintenance of genomic integrity. Experimental approaches are also introduced in the context of primary research articles. Cell biology and molecular biology at undergraduate levels are essential prerequisites. Topics include Biology and genetics of cells and organisms, Nature of cancer, Tumor viruses, Cellular oncogenes, Growth factors, receptors and cancer, Cytoplasmic signaling circuitry programs, Tumor suppressor genes, etc.