Biological Sciences

This course examines the rapidly emerging functional food/nutraceutical industry with an emphasis on the history, regulation, chemical basis and quality control of  healthy ingredients/products and their effects on human health. It covers concepts, history and global regulations of functional foods and nutraceuticals; classification of functional foods and nutraceuticals based on their chemical structures; unsaturated fatty acids, proteins, food pigments and dietary fibers as healthy food ingredients; health benefits of dietary phenolics, terpenes, phytosterols and sulphur-containing compounds; probiotics and prebiotics; small berries, spices, teas and herbs for health; and quality control and assurance of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

This course introduces the roles and functioning mechanisms of two major remote communication systems between the cells of the organism: the nervous system and the endocrine system. It covers the mechanisms and consequences of membrane permeability to electrolytes, the bases of cellular excitability (neurons, endocrine cells, muscles), cellular communication (Ligand-receptor interactions: receptors for neurotransmitters (synapses) and hormones), and the muscular excitation-contraction coupling.

This course covers aspects of both the physical and biological environments of the sea and their inter-relationships. It depicts marine science as a body of knowledge and a process of continual enquiry and testing of ideas. It considers human impacts on the marine environments and how the principles and methods of science in general are used to predict and solve the problems created by human activities. The course includes discussion of the marine environment; its physical, geological, chemical, and biological characteristics and their interactions; the sea as a source of human food; marine productivity, fisheries, and mariculture and how science can assist in management for a sustainable yield; and the effects of development, especially industrial development on the marine environment, and how science can contribute to providing solutions to these problems.

This course introduces the modern study of neurobiology, starting with the physiological and biochemical characteristics of nerve cells, synaptic transmission and neurotransmitter systems, and the structure of the nervous system. In addition, the course covers the sensory and motor functions as well as the development and modifications of the nervous system. This course also discusses higher neural functions such as behavior, emotion, attention, and memory. Text: Bear, Connors and Paradiso, NEUROSCIENC: EXPLORING THE BRAIN.