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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies : Veterinary Sciences

Postgraduate Course: Host-pathogen arms race (VESC11134)

Course Outline
SchoolRoyal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course is designed to cover the complex concepts that define the host-pathogen interactions.
Course description This course is designed to cover the complex concepts that define the host-pathogen interactions. It will cover the abilities of hosts to combat pathogens as well as abilities of the pathogens to persist. It will illustrate key principles that underpin the biology across species, but it will also offer species specific examples that derive from SRUC/R(D)SVS research. It will provide an in depth understanding of the concepts of host fitness, tolerance and resistance to pathogens and how these are affected by genetic and environmental drivers. It will also consider how these drive phenotypic and evolutionary plasticity in the host. Pathogen fitness and virulence will be discussed in relation to commensalism, colonisation, establishment, pathogenicity and host responses; the drivers of phenotypic plasticity in the pathogens will also be covered.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Flexible
Course Start Date 03/08/2020
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 98 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% in-course formal summative written assessment, which will comprise two assessments each worth 50% of the final course mark
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. To understand the complexities of host-pathogen interactions and the arms race between the two
  2. To learn the principles of livestock immunity and genetic variation to disease resistance
  3. To understand the principles of pathogen virulence
  4. To investigate how host x pathogen interactions influence transmission (site of colonisation, shedding routes, shedding levels)
  5. To understand how host responses to infection have been exploited to create diagnostics
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsEvolution,Immunity,Behaviour,Virulence,Host-pathogen interaction,genetic variance
Contacts
Course organiserDr Spiridoula Athanasiadou
Tel: (0131 6)51 9355
Email: sathanas@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Angela Harding
Tel: (0131 6)51 7363
Email: Angela.Harding@ed.ac.uk
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