Assignments

Undergraduate Paper Topic

Several of the proteins involved in neurotransmission have been shown to exist in two or more forms, as determined by which alleles for them a person happens to be carrying.

These include, among others,

  • SERT — the serotonin reuptake protein
  • MAO — monoamine oxidases A and B
  • COMT — catechol-O-methyl transferase

Pick one of these proteins and write a paper describing the evidence that it does exist in two or more forms, the differential abilities between the two alleles in regards to function, and delineate any evidence that a person's susceptibility to a psychiatric or neuropsychiatric disease may depend on which allele he or she carries.

Due in Ses #17.