Molecular Biology for the Auditory System
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this advanced course on the molecular biology behind hearing and its disorders. The first half covers human genetics fundamentals: pedigree analysis, linkage analysis, molecular cloning, and gene analysis, plus the ethical and legal issues raised, all framed around a specific auditory disorder. The second half shifts to the cochlea itself, examining the molecular mechanisms of its normal function and the pathways that lead to dysfunction, built around readings and discussion of primary research literature rather than lectures alone. Materials include the MIT OCW course readings and discussion topics, free to access online. The course suits students with a background in genetics or molecular biology who want to see those tools applied to a concrete sensory system, tracing how a single gene defect can be traced from pedigree to protein to hearing loss.