Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes in dominant and recessive gene systemsDevelop a Punnett square to calculate the expected proportions of genotypes and phenotypes in a monohybrid crossExplain the purpose and methods of a test crossIdentify non-Mendelian inheritance patterns such as incomplete dominance, codominance, recessive lethals, multiple alleles, and sex linkage

In this class, students engage in independent research projects to probe various aspects of the physiology of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, an opportunistic pathogen isolated from the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. Students use molecular genetics to examine survival in stationary phase, antibiotic resistance, phase variation, toxin production, and secondary metabolite production.
Projects aim to discover the molecular basis for these processes using both classical and cutting-edge techniques. These include plasmid manipulation, genetic complementation, mutagenesis, PCR, DNA sequencing, enzyme assays, and gene expression studies. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication are also emphasized.
WARNING NOTICE
The experiments described in these materials are potentially hazardous and require a high level of safety training, special facilities and equipment, and supervision by appropriate individuals. You bear the sole responsibility, liability, and risk for the implementation of such safety procedures and measures. MIT shall have no responsibility, liability, or risk for the content or implementation of any of the material presented.
Legal Notice

Genetic mutations provide valuable tools for analyzing biochemical pathways in yeast. In this module, students use deletion mutants to analyze the steps in methionine biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. At the end of this module, students will be able to:understand and use the correct genetic nomenclature for genes, proteins and mutant strainsexplain how genetic screens are used to isolate mutant strains with particular phenotypesdistinguish various met deletion strains by their ability to grow on selective media containing different sulfur sources and by their appearnace on indicator mediapredict how mutations in various MET  genes will affect the intracellular concentrations of intermediates in the methionine biosynthesis This module is part of a semester-long introductory lab class, Investigations in Molecular Cell BIology, at Boston College.

In this module, students design and implement a strategy to identify yeast deletion strains by colony PCR. At the end of this module, students should be able to:design oligonucleotide primers to amplify specific DNA sequences with PCRexplain how changes to the annealing and extension times affect the production of PCR productsuse PCR to distinguish mutant yeast strains with different genotypesThis module is part of a semester-long introductory lab course, Investigations in Molecular Cell BIology, at Boston College.