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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression by The University of Melbourne

4.8
stars
791 ratings

About the Course

While the human genome sequence has transformed our understanding of human biology, it isn’t just the sequence of your DNA that matters, but also how you use it! How are some genes activated and others are silenced? How is this controlled? The answer is epigenetics. Epigenetics has been a hot topic for research over the past decade as it has become clear that aberrant epigenetic control contributes to disease (particularly to cancer). Epigenetic alterations are heritable through cell division, and in some instances are able to behave similarly to mutations in terms of their stability. Importantly, unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic modifications are reversible and therefore have the potential to be manipulated therapeutically. It has also become clear in recent years that epigenetic modifications are sensitive to the environment (for example diet), which has sparked a large amount of public debate and research. This course will give an introduction to the fundamentals of epigenetic control. We will examine epigenetic phenomena that are manifestations of epigenetic control in several organisms, with a focus on mammals. We will examine the interplay between epigenetic control and the environment and finally the role of aberrant epigenetic control in disease. All necessary information will be covered in the lectures, and recommended and required readings will be provided. There are no additional required texts for this course. For those interested, additional information can be obtained in the following textbook. Epigenetics. Allis, Jenuwein, Reinberg and Caparros. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press. ISBN-13: 978-0879697242 | Edition: 1 The course will re-open in 2022....

Top reviews

NN

Aug 1, 2021

This is the best course on coursera, 10/10. I wish it was longer and I could take it all over again. you will need background knowledge for this course but it is an amazing course and I will miss it.

MM

Oct 1, 2018

This was an excellent course. All the material was well presented and the explanation of the sometimes complex subject matter was clear and understandable. Thank you for an great learning experience.

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1 - 25 of 215 Reviews for Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression

By GAURI S K

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May 20, 2020

This course was new to me. All the concepts were explained in a very simplified manner. I am very happy to have done this course and find it a very interesting field to take upm in my future career.

By Ho Y C

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May 10, 2020

Very clear explanation of the concepts and details. I would say it is a difficult course for students from engineering background, even having some bioinfomatics and oncology courses background

By Niusha

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Aug 1, 2021

This is the best course on coursera, 10/10. I wish it was longer and I could take it all over again. you will need background knowledge for this course but it is an amazing course and I will miss it.

By Dan S

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Aug 25, 2018

This is an excellent course that introduces you to fundamental knowledge of several hot topics in the field of epigenetics. Dr. Blewitt herself studies X inactivation, and I learned so much!

By Rodrigo A M F

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Nov 2, 2016

The information is presented in a clear way and haves an apropiate level of difficulty. My problem is that the method of evaluation, with only multiple choice answers, is very lazy and easy.

By Deleted A

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Nov 25, 2019

Update the reading for the final assignment. It is too old and updating it would be an easy fix. I am not going to finish the certificate as the final paper is 7 years ago. Go Boomer. Sad

By EBENEZER W

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Jul 24, 2019

Definitely an enchanting learning experience. This course expresses thoughts on epigenetics and how it could be the key to solve menacing threats such as cancer. It starts with a brief history and remarkable discoveries by scientists, followed by its mechanism, case studies in animal models, cohort studies, and eventually its implementation in cancer therapy. It is very intriguing filled with quizzes, learning resources (podcasts, debates, research findings, interviews, and newspaper articles) and not to mention the ever-growing learning community. Highly recommended for aspirants of biology and those who want to understand life better. I am grateful to Dr. Marnie Blewitt, the curator, Ms. Natasha Jansz, the moderator, and her colleagues and also the University of Melbourne for an excellent journey of learning.

By Didi-Morgan M

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Aug 30, 2018

Great course on a very interesting subject. Well constructed, with clear explanations, nice supports, wonderful contents. I love it. The level of difficulty increases with each chapters but regurlarly, so it's relatively easy. Great teacher, she seems passionate about what she does even though it is difficult to be passionate alone in front of a camera… She sometimes end on a little opening on the researches on the subject, especially the ones done in her own lab, which I think is very interesting. Thank you for this amazing course! I recommend it to everyone interested in genetics, epigenetics or who wants to know the relatively new discoveries in the field.

By Apoorva S

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Jul 21, 2019

A great learning platform. This was my first ever course on coursera and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. A big thank you to Dr. Marnie Blewitt for helping us learn in a fun way!

By PADMIKA W

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May 23, 2020

It is a wonderful course to learn about epigenetics. I recommend everyone to take this course.

By Udit G

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Nov 28, 2020

Truly a great course. Dr. Marnie Blewitt has been an amazing instructor.

By Ismael V M

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Jul 24, 2019

Fantastic course excelente teacher thanks.

By Gaurav S

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Mar 7, 2017

A brilliant course which enables students to understand the fundamentals of Epigenetics. This was my first online course and I am delighted to say that it was a wonderful experience and I gained immense insight into the field of Epigenetics. I'd strongly recommend it to prospective students and academicians.

By SAURABH M

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Jun 29, 2017

A highly informative course. It provides a base for the people who are associated with epigenetic study. I enjoyed this course and enhanced my knowledge in the area of epigenetics. I will recommend other people who are willing to start their career in the field of epigenetics, they can join the course.

By robert t

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Mar 22, 2016

boring lecturer, monotone, passionless reading of even more boring powerpoint slides and images, and absolutely no intelligent discussion going on in this course, I have learned more from reading the book "the epigenetics revolution " by nessa carey, a book written for laypersons, than I have from this course taught by university professors. don't waste your time

By Dong M

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Jul 31, 2017

the whole lecture given by the lecturer is so confused. And really boring by her monotone. There is almost no connections between slides and the explanation is so unconvinced. Also, it will be better if the lecture can help recall previous slides when talking about relative definition or trying to explain something. wasted my time to be honest

By Christie S

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Aug 9, 2019

This class was an excellent (more advanced) exploration into the world of epigenetic gene expression. For someone who works in the genetics industry, this class came full circle for me and actually taught me the mechanisms that are related to some of the processes we complete on client samples.

This class is very content heavy, but it is all valuable and clearly articulated. The lectures are well organized and the quizzes are valuable in that they test your ability to understand the material, not just regurgitate information.

I highly recommend this course for anyone willing to put in the time to learn epigenetics on this molecular level.

By Talha I

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May 16, 2019

This course is wonderful: Quality of contents, level/depth and instructor's experience/way of teaching. I saw this course first time in 2016 and its couple of lectures were enough to give me a direction for my Masters thesis. This time, I wanted to complete it all the way and Alhamdulillah a dream came true: I have learnt a lot of things which I had no idea about (mere couple of months ago). In terms of quality and rarity of available material on this subject, I have no qualms about rating it as the Best Course ever on MOOC!

By Camilo G

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Dec 1, 2020

Excellent course. Very High cuality. I sugest the certification must be done with the equivalent of number of hours that needs to succesfully complete the course. The online courses should not be less than presencial courses, and some times, at the moment to present the curriculum, the number of hours is usefull to make the certification valid in our country. This is true spetially in a course of very high cuality like this one, in wich, we truly have to effort and study to pass the exams, and the whole course.

By Mostafa E

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Aug 28, 2017

it was one of the best course I ever take and I think will stay very special to me forever. I learned a lot of fascinating stuff from a great professor with a very interesting way of teaching really it was amazing her passion to teach the topic. I felt her love to the topic with the words and representation the professor done in this course I wish for her the best and to keep passion about the epigenetics as well as continue to add to our knowledge and teach us more and more

By Felipe C D S B

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Nov 30, 2020

The course was a game-changer in my life! Very well structured! Although exist vast content about epigenetics, the lectures contain a robust synthesis, with nicely didactics practices. The self-correcting exercises improve our results to oversee our difficulty when permitting a new realizing. The ultimate activity is much relevant cause promotes concise text and allows one to learn from a colleague's opinions.

By Arturo M F

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Aug 28, 2017

An amazing course directed wonderfully by Dr. Marnie Blewitt. All the lessons have been new opportunities to discover that epigenetic characteristics in human being genome could answer all questions about ourselves that genetics solely by itself cannot. Thanks to Dr. Blewitt I have a strong tool to complement my biochemical background focused in signal transduction pathways in humans.

By Dr L S N

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May 18, 2020

Epigenetics was a very tough topic for me from the beginning. But Marnie has made it lucid and I understood the course very well. The display of materials and videos were of very good quality. The questions of the assessments were appropriate. I enjoyed the whole course. I would love to do future endevours with Marnie and Coursera. I would advocate it to my collegues also.

By Miguel L

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Jul 18, 2016

Great introduction

It is a great introduction course to this fascinating field. Explanations are very clear (supposing you have previous knowledge about molecular biology) and provided further reading links are very good if you look for deeper knowledge. I strongly recommend this course to biologstudents who did not have the opportunity to go into detail about epigenetics.

By Beatric S

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Nov 12, 2020

An upcoming field .Amazing Professor. Excellent course work and well delivered. I learnt a lot. Congratulations to the Professor . Everything was very well laid out and i am extremely grateful to Coursera for providing me an opportunity by enrolling free for the course. Without this help i would not have been able to enroll. I thank the Professor and coursera immensely.