Introduction to Genomics Spring 2026

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Spring 2026
Class time and location
STTH – 10:00-10:50 (SCI-S C2 Room 120)

Textbook, readings, and lecturing style:
 Introduction to Genomics 2nd edition, by Arthur M. Lesk.
The lectures will be given using powerpoint slides (see below). It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to print the material, come to the lectures, and take notes. You will be tested on the material I give in class and the book.
Attendance:
I will not give points for attending my lectures. You are a RESPONSIBLE student and you want to learn. Missing lectures will significantly affect your performance and grade. I do not intend to give lectures during my office hours or photocopy my lecture notes for you!
Academic dishonesty:
DO NOT CHEAT. You are smart and you can get the grade you want. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Tests and grading:
You will be given THREE independent tests each of which covers specific chapters. Each test is worth 30%. Your LOWEST test grade will be DROPPED and your final grade will be the sum of the two highest scores in addition to the final. The FINAL is worth 40% and will cover the entire course material with greater emphasis on the material that you have not been tested on. The tests will be a combination of short questions and essay questions. 
Important dates:
Exam1: Sunday 1/3/2026 (Lectures 1-)
Exam2: Sunday 5/4/2026 (Lectures )
Exam3: Sunday 3/5/2026 (Lectures )
Final Exam:  Monday 11/5/2026 (ALL Lectures) – 9:00-11:00
Enrolled students:
  1. BELQEES ALMUTAIRI.****/*
  2. ABRAR ALHAJRI.******/*
  3. HAWRAA HAMDAN.*/
  4. GENAN ALQATTAN./
  5. REEMIAH ALHULAILI./*
  6. SARAH BONAJMAH./
  7. RAHAF ALAJMI./*
  8. ASMAA ALSHAIJY.*/*
  9. SHAHAD ALOTAIBI.*/
  10. ESMAHAN JAHAN.*/
  11. NOUF ALRASHIDI.*/*
  12. AFRAH ALSHAMMARI.***/
  13. KHADIJAH DABAL./
  14. RAGHAD ALRUQI.*/
  15. HAYAT ALHARBI./
  16. SARA ALADWANI./
  17. BOSHRA ALRIFAI./
Lecture 1: General Introduction
Lecture 1.5: Academic Communication
Lecture 2: History and Review (I)
Lecture 3: History and Review (II)
Video: Thomas Morgan & Fruit flies – Thanks to Reemiah Alhulaili
Lecture 4: The genome: the word and beyond
Lecture 5: Exploring the genome: workable pieces
Lecture 5.1: 485_lec5.1_DNAExtraction
Lecture 5.2: 485_lec5.2_DNAQualityQuantity
Lecture 6: DNA sequencing: the thing to the information
Sequencing methods videos:
– Maxam and Gilbert Sequencing (Thanks Althuraya Alaskar)
– Sanger Sequencing, V2
– Pyrosequencing, V2
– Illumina Sequencing, V2
– SOLiD Sequencing
– Ion Torrent Sequencing, V2 
– Oxford Nanopore Sequencing, V2
– PacBio Sequencing, V2
Lecture 7: The sequence: Reading the reads
Sequencing strategies videos:
– Hierarchical Sequencing
– Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing (WGS)
– The race to the human genome
– Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) (Thanks Althuraya Alaskar)
Lecture 8: Stitching the sequences: Genome assembly
– Sequence Alignment (Abdulatif Alfulaij + Hafsa Aziz)
Lecture 9: The meaning: Genome annotation
Lecture 10: Meaningful parts: coding regions
Lecture 11: Functional annotation
RNAi (Abdulatif Alfulaij, Malak Alrasabiya)
CRISPR-Cas9 (Abdulatif Alfulaij), CRISPR-Cas9 (Malak Alrasabiya)
Lecture 12 : Non-coding genomic elements
Lecture 13 : Genetic transfer
Lecture 14: Polymorphisms
Lecture 15: Population Genetics