Biological Investigations
Cilia: Swimming, sensation, and disease
BIO110
Fall 2025

Cilia on the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Bio 110 will introduce you to how biologists ask and answer questions to generate new knowledge. The course’s central goal is to give you the opportunity to learn and apply the scientific method as used by biologists, and by so doing to help you decide if you are interested in choosing Biology as a major. If you choose not to continue your study of biology, taking Bio 110 will help you be a wiser consumer of the scientific knowledge that you encounter in your daily life concerning your health, as well as data-based claims in many other fields.

  This Bio110 section will focus on the formation and function of cilia.  Cilia are ancient and amazingly conserved cellular structures that function in many processes, including: cell swimming, the movement of eggs in the female reproductive tract, the expulsion of mucous from lungs, establishing the left-right body axis during embryonic development, and sensing the external environment (light-sight, odorants-smell, sound waves-hearing).  Defects in the formation and function of cilia, called ciliopathies, underlie many instances of kidney disease, congenital heart disease, Situs Inversus, Retinitis Pigmentosa (a form of blindness), and male infertility.  In this Bio110 section, students will explore how cilia are formed and how they contribute to organism behavior by carrying out investigations using two different model organisms, the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

In Bio 110 you will be introduced to biology’s core competencies:

•     Applying the process of science (through course and independent research experiences engaging with scientific thinking, information literacy, developing questions, designing experiments, analyzing and interpreting data)

•     Use quantitative reasoning (using basic mathematics in biological contexts and applying tools of graphing, statistics, and data science to analyze biological data)

•     Use modeling and simulation (develop and test conceptual models of biological processes)

•     Tap into the interdisciplinary nature of science (integrate concepts between biological fields like genetics, cell biology, and ecology)

•     Communication and collaboration (share ideas, work as teams, provide constructive feedback to improve team and individual work)

•     Understand the relationship between science and society (identify and evaluate ethical issues in science, consider how societal factors affect who does science, and recognize how science impacts daily life)

You will develop these skills through investigations that you carry out as part of a team, discussions, lectures, data analysis and writing assignments, and oral presentations. Your success at meeting the course goals will be evaluated via quizzes, midterms, data analysis assignments, writing assignments, oral presentations, and feedback from your partners.

Class Schedule      Course Syllabus