The course will begin by introducing classical genetics and transition to a comprehensive coverage of molecular genetics, with an emphasis on molecular tools used to engineer genetic change. The first part of the course will cover the basic principles of classical genetics such as heredity, mutations, pedigree analysis, genetic testing, and genetic mapping. These topics include an understanding of how genetics was used to discover the rules for genetic inheritance, chromosome organization, replication (DNA), transcription (RNA), and translation (proteins). These concepts will be used to describe gene regulation and mRNA processing in eukaryotes. The second part will discuss how technologies such as sequencing and proteomics have revolutionized the field of genetics, with a special focus on crop breeding and synthetic genetics in model organisms. We will discuss how these tools allow engineering plants, cells, and organisms for agricultural and health-related purposes.