In this experience you will be looking at the life work of Gregor Mendel, a simple monk who is now considered the father of modern genetics.  His work provides the backbone for our understanding of why we inherit traits from our parents. Through this seminar you will be asked to reflect on how genes are transferred. In addition, you will reflect on the life of Mendel, as he received no credit for incredible work during his lifetime.BIO.B.1.2Explain how genetic information is inherited.

Students explore the relationships between genetics, biodiversity, and evolution through a simple activity involving hypothetical wild mouse populations. First, students toss coins to determine what traits a set of mouse parents possesses, such as fur color, body size, heat tolerance, and running speed. Next they use coin tossing to determine the traits a mouse pup born to these parents possesses. These physical features are then compared to features that would be most adaptive in several different environmental conditions. Finally, students consider what would happen to the mouse offspring if those environmental conditions were to change: which mice would be most likely to survive and produce the next generation?

Mendel was the father of genetics, but he wasn’t the final source of all information about the topic. After Mendel’s time we learned a great deal about genetics. Some of this information seemed to conflict with some of the information Mendel gleaned from his pea plants. We call this Non-Mendelian genetics. This lesson will challenge you to compare the concepts before and after Mendel and reflect on how you have inherited traits.StandardsBIO.B.2.1 Compare Mendelian and non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance.

This initial module from the GENIQUEST project introduces the dragons and the inheritance of their traits, then delves into meiosis and its relationship to inherited traits. Students examine the effects of choosing different gametes on dragon offspring, and learn about genetic recombination by creating recombination events to generate specific offspring from two given parent dragons. Students learn about inbred strains and breed an inbred strain of dragons themselves.

Students will breed fruit flies through several generations and record their data using mathematical models in order to demonstrate the inheritance of trait variations.

This course provides a foundation for understanding the relationship between molecular biology, developmental biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and medicine. It develops explicit connections between basic research, medical understanding, and the perspective of patients. Principles of human genetics are reviewed. We translate clinical understanding into analysis at the level of the gene, chromosome and molecule; we cover the concepts and techniques of molecular biology and genomics, and the strategies and methods of genetic analysis, including an introduction to bioinformatics. Material in the course extends beyond basic principles to current research activity in human genetics.

Instructional video on molecular mechanism of homologous recombination in meiosis.

Although textbooks describe this process and show illustrations, it is difficult to grasp without seeing a live demonstration.

Created for Biology 41 General Genetics at Tufts University.

Discover what controls how fast tiny molecular motors in our body pull through a single strand of DNA. How hard can the motor pull in a tug of war with the optical tweezers? Discover what helps it pull harder. Do all molecular motors behave the same?

This assignment uses a computer simulation of fruit fly genetics to have students design and interpret monohybrid crosses of a trait with simple dominant and recessive alleles. Detailed instructions with animated examples, background material, a sample report and a rubric are included.

People have a deep intuition about what has been called the “nature–nurture question.” Some aspects of our behavior feel as though they originate in our genetic makeup, while others feel like the result of our upbringing or our own hard work. The scientific field of behavior genetics attempts to study these differences empirically, either by examining similarities among family members with different degrees of genetic relatedness, or, more recently, by studying differences in the DNA of people with different behavioral traits. The scientific methods that have been developed are ingenious, but often inconclusive. Many of the difficulties encountered in the empirical science of behavior genetics turn out to be conceptual, and our intuitions about nature and nurture get more complicated the harder we think about them. In the end, it is an oversimplification to ask how “genetic” some particular behavior is. Genes and environments always combine to produce behavior, and the real science is in the discovery of how they combine for a given behavior.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Equine genetics reveals otherwise invisible traits linked to your horse’s appearance Several dilution genes—which lighten pigments in skin, eyes and hair—have been identified The SLC45A2 gene affects red and black pigments, creating cream and pearl coats But there are still gaps in the genetic story behind these coat colors Now, researchers have identified two new SLC45A2 variants One originated in medieval times and gives rise to the well-known pearl dilution The other—whose origin is unknown— produces a similar but entirely new dilution dubbed "sun" This research suggests that there’s much more to learn in equine genetics and the results can empower breeders and owners to provide the best care for their horses Holl et al. "A candidate gene approach identifies variants in SLC45A2 that explain dilute phenotypes, pearl and sunshine, in compound heterozygote horses." Anim Genet..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"At birth, the mouth is sterile and relatively germ-free. It's only later that bacteria colonize the mouths of children. But little is understood about how and why certain bacteria triumph over others some of which are responsible for spreading diseases such as dental caries and periodontal disease. It’s a question of what matters more: genetics or environment, nature or nurture? To find out researchers compared the mouths of two groups of people. Parents and their biological children and parents and their adopted children. This design helped researchers separate genetic factors from environmental ones affecting the oral microbiota. Results showed no differences in how closely oral bacterial profiles matched between adoptive versus biological mother-child pairs. In fact, the oral microbiomes of all children more closely resembled those of their own mothers than those of unrelated women suggesting that contact and shared environment play a bigger role than genetics alone..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

On this site, through a variety of activities, you can learn about anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, biodiversity, the brain, climate change, the Earth, Einstein, expeditions, genetics, marine biology, paleontology, water, and zoology.

This Ology website for kids focuses on Genetics. It includes activities, things to make, quizzes, interviews with working scientists, and more to help kids learn about Genetics.

Looking at how regulatory DNA sequences can repress or promote gene transcription (particularly in bacteria operons).

Gene insertion of opsin, light-activated cell-membrane channels, into neurons of interest allows researchers to manipulate light to either excite or inhibit neuronal activity to gain a better understanding of brain function and dysfunction, and explore therapeutic applications.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"CRSPR-Cas is a powerful gene editing tool for the therapy of human diseases But its potential for fighting human disease remains untapped Part of the problem is that different CRISPR-Cas systems use different PAM sequences to activate their editing functions and how to directly identify functional PAM sequences in human cells is still an open question Now, researchers have developed PAM Definition by Observable Sequence Excision (PAM-DOSE), a technique for identifying these secret genetic phrases It starts with using bacteria to generate a large library of random sequences on circular strands of DNA Each random sequence is flanked by tdTomato and EGFP to express red and green fluorescent proteins when implanted in a cell Only the correct sequences activate the corresponding CRISPR-Cas pair, whose function is to remove the red-protein portion So a green-only signal indicates a right answer Next-generation sequencing then reveals the details of the correct PAM sequence In a proof-of-principle experiment, the se.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.