In addition to the required core courses, students can choose from a wide variety of elective courses to extend their depth and/or breadth of knowledge. IGG students can choose to integrate a degree in Genetics with a second discipline, by choosing electives from courses within a different graduate group relevant to their thesis topic or area of interest. A full listing of other graduate programs at UC Davis and their course offerings is shown here.  For a complete course catalog of graduate and undergraduate courses click here.

Core Courses:

GGG 201A - Advanced Genetic Analysis (Fall quarter)
Lecture—3 hours, Discussion - 2 hours. Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 101, Statistics 100, or the equivalent, graduate standing. Fundamentals of genetic analysis and chromosome structure using model organisms including mutation, transmission, complementation, suppression, and enhancement as well as epigenetic phenomena at the whole organism and molecular levels.

GGG 201B - Genomics (Winter quarter)
Lecture - 3 hours, Discussion - 2 hours. Prerequisite: course 201A, 201C or the equivalent, graduate standing. Covers the technological basis of genomics from its historical roots through today's emerging methodologies. Topics include genome structure, physical mapping, sequencing, genome assembly, sequence similarity, gene finding, gene expression, natural variation, proteomics, and metabolomics.

GGG 201D - Quantitative and Population Genetics (Spring quarter)
Lecture—5 hours. Prerequisite: course 201A or consent of instructor. Basic concepts of quantitative and population genetics including gene and genotypic frequencies, multiple factor hypothesis, phenotypic and genotypic values, heritability, selection, genetic variation, the detection of quantitative trait loci and evolution in populations. Experimental and analytical methods.

GGG 290A - Student Seminar (Fall, Winter, Spring Quarters)
Student Seminar – 1 hour. The Graduate Student Conference in Genetics is intended for students in the Genetics Graduate Group to improve presentation skills. Students will give 15-30 minute seminars and receive S/U grading. PhD students will be required to enroll in this course for one quarter during each of the first four years of their degree program; MS students must enroll at least once.

GGG 291 - History of Genetics (Fall 2020)
Seminar —2 hours. Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 101, graduate standing. The development of modern genetic theories, methods, and logic - from Mendel to the assembled human genome. Student presentations and discussion, based on directed reading of primary literature.

GGG 296 - Scientific Professionalism and Integrity (Fall quarter)
Lecture—1 hour; seminar—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Review of basic skills required of contemporary scientists. Topics include scientific conduct, manuscript preparation, grant writing, seminar presentations, and time management. Emphasis on responsibilities of scientists to factually and thoughtfully communicate results. (S/U grading only.)

Seminar Courses (1 unit):

GGG 290 - Evolutionary,  Developmental & Population Genetics (Spring 2021, Spring 2023)

GGG 292 - Genomics & Epigenetics (Fall 2022)

GGG 293 - Animal Genetics (Spring 2022)

GGG 294 - Human Genetics (Winter 2022)

GGG 295 - Molecular Genetics (Fall 2021)

GGG 297 - Plant Genetics (Winter 2023)

Laboratory courses:

GGG 205 - Molecular Genetics Laboratory - Laboratory Rotations (Fall and Winter quarters)
Laboratory—10 hours. Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 101 (may be taken concurrently) or the equivalent, enrolled in Integrative Genetics and Genomics Graduate Group. Students will conduct experiments in molecular genetics laboratories. Individual research problems will emphasize experimental design, experience with methodologies, and data interpretation. (S/U grading only.)

Other GGG courses:

GGG 210 - Horizontal Gene Transfer (Fall quarter)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: background in basic microbiology and genetics required; introductory course in molecular biology, biotechnology and microbial and animal/plant genetics recommended. Transfer of genes between unrelated organisms in nature. Dissemination of foreign DNA from genetically engineered organisms, including plants and animals. Mechanisms by which genes are transferred horizontally, and between kingdoms.

GGG 211 - Concepts in Human Genetics and Genomics (Winter quarter, odd years)
Lecture - 3 hours. Prerequisite: GGG 201A or equivalent (201B and 201C are recommended). Human genomic organization; genetic structure of human populations; positional cloning of genes for human disease, application of linkage, association, and haplotypes for human studies; quantitative trait loci analyses; integrative genetic studies of gene expression; DNA repair mechanisms in genetic disease; mutation analyses; epigentics in human disease; human mitochondrial DNA disease; gene manipulation and gene therapy.

GGG 220/PLS 220 - Genomics-Based Breeding in Plants and Animals (Fall quarter)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: GGG 201B and GGG 201D or the equivalent. Integration of modern genomics and classical breeding provides an understanding of the individual genes controlling complex traits. This basic understanding of complex trait architecture can be put into practice in marker-based breeding of plants and animals. Introduction to complex trait dissection; QTL mapping; resequencing and SNP discovery; SNP genotyping; nucleotide diversity, population structure and linkage disequilibrium; association mapping; BLUP; estimation of molecular breeding value; genomic selection; backcross breeding.

GGG 298 - Group study (Fall, Winter, Spring quarters)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Group study of selected topics in genetics. (S/U grading only.)

GGG 299 - Research (F/W/Sp)
(S/U grading only.)

GGG 300 - Methods in Teaching Genetics (Fall, Winter, Spring quarters) To be taken during the teaching assistantship quarter.
Lecture/discussion. Prerequisite: graduate standing and consent of instructor. Practical experience in the methods and problems of teaching genetics. Includes analysis of texts and supporting material, discussion of teaching techniques, preparing for and conducting discussion or laboratory sections, formulating examinations under supervision of instructor. May be repeated for credit up to 3 times or 9 units if teaching in different genetics-related course. (S/U grading only.)