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

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:

"Tropical maize hybrid, a single cross of flint and dent inbred lines, is an important crop throughout the Americas and Africa. Crop yield, however, is highly dependent on nitrogen availability, and fertilizers are therefore often necessary to increase production. Developing more nitrogen-efficient maize would not only cut costs for farmers, it would also increase crop yield and reduce environmental impacts. But how do you make a plant more nitrogen efficient? The performance and production of crops can be improved by selectively crossing individuals with desired traits. When such plants are crossed, they produce hybrids that are often bigger, stronger, and more vigorous than either of the parent plants. By carefully choosing which individuals are used in creating these hybrids, specific traits, such as nitrogen efficiency, can be selected for..."

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

The course focuses on casting contemporary problems in systems biology and functional genomics in computational terms and providing appropriate tools and methods to solve them. Topics include genome structure and function, transcriptional regulation, and stem cell biology in particular; measurement technologies such as microarrays (expression, protein-DNA interactions, chromatin structure); statistical data analysis, predictive and causal inference, and experiment design. The emphasis is on coupling problem structures (biological questions) with appropriate computational approaches.

Students reinforce their knowledge that DNA is the genetic material for all living things by modeling it using toothpicks and gumdrops that represent the four biochemicals (adenine, thiamine, guanine, and cytosine) that pair with each other in a specific pattern, making a double helix. They investigate specific DNA sequences that code for certain physical characteristics such as eye and hair color. Student teams trade DNA "strands" and de-code the genetic sequences to determine the physical characteristics (phenotype) displayed by the strands (genotype) from other groups. Students extend their knowledge to learn about DNA fingerprinting and recognizing DNA alterations that may result in genetic disorders.

In this presentation we’ll translate our knowledge from genetics into clinically relevant patient stories. We’ll present case stories of translational metabolism, which means that we go from genotype to phenotype. Translational science is a multidisciplinary form of science that bridges the gap between basic science and applied science.

Course responsible: Associate Professor Signe Sørensen Torekov, MD Nicolai Wewer Albrechtsen & Professor Jens Juul Holst

After watching video clips from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, students explore the use of Punnett squares to predict genetic trait inheritance. The objective of this lesson is to articulate concepts related to genetics through direct immersive interaction based on the theme, The Science Behind Harry Potter. Students' interest is piqued by the use of popular culture in the classroom.

This course discusses the principles of genetics with application to the study of biological function at the level of molecules, cells, and multicellular organisms, including humans. The topics include: structure and function of genes, chromosomes and genomes, biological variation resulting from recombination, mutation, and selection, population genetics, use of genetic methods to analyze protein function, gene regulation and inherited disease.

This document contains eight genetic problems with multiple parts.  These include crosses in which only one character are studied, crosses in which two characters are studied, crosses with multiple alleles, and crosses that are sex-linked.

Students randomly select jelly beans (or other candy) that represent genes for several human traits such as tongue-rolling ability and eye color. Then, working in pairs (preferably of mixed gender), students randomly choose new pairs of jelly beans from those corresponding to their own genotypes. The new pairs are placed on toothpicks to represent the chromosomes of the couple's offspring. Finally, students compare genotypes and phenotypes of parents and offspring for all the "couples" in the class. In particular, they look to see if there are cases where parents and offspring share the exact same genotype and/or phenotype, and consider how the results would differ if they repeated the simulation using more than four traits.

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 self-paced course was originally designed to help prepare incoming MIT students for their first Introductory Biology Course (known at MIT as 7.01). It will also be useful for anyone preparing to take an equivalent college-level introductory biology class elsewhere. It includes lecture videos, interactive exercises, problem sets, and one exam.  Lecture Topics: Molecules of Life, The Cell and How it Works, Information Transfer in Biology, Inheritance and Genetics, and Building with DNA.
Go to OCW’s Open Learning Library site for Pre-7.01: Getting up to Speed in Biology. The site is free to use, just like all OCW sites. You have the option to sign up and enroll in the course if you want to track your progress, or you can view and use all the materials without enrolling.

Psychology is designed to meet scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester introduction to psychology course. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of core concepts, grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research. The text also includes coverage of the DSM-5 in examinations of psychological disorders. Psychology incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe.Senior Contributing AuthorsRose M. Spielman, Formerly of Quinnipiac UniversityContributing AuthorsKathryn Dumper, Bainbridge State CollegeWilliam Jenkins, Mercer UniversityArlene Lacombe, Saint Joseph's UniversityMarilyn Lovett, Livingstone CollegeMarion Perlmutter, University of Michigan

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain the basic principles of the theory of evolution by natural selectionDescribe the differences between genotype and phenotypeDiscuss how gene-environment interactions are critical for expression of physical and psychological characteristics

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:

"Plants form a close bond with a vast range of microorganisms. In fact, this microbiome could be viewed as an extended phenotype of the plant genome enhancing plants’ ability to cope with environmental stress. To understand this connection, researchers recently examined the microbiome of the model legume Medicago truncatula. They found that bacterial diversity decreased between external and internal plant compartments and that microbiome composition was shaped by strong interactions between compartment type, soil, and plant genotype with the microbial composition of external compartments driven by soil origin and the microbial composition of internal compartments driven by host genetics. All compartments were dominated by Ensifer, the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that form root nodule symbiosis with M. truncatula..."

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

This illustration from Evolution by Monroe W. Strickberger shows the remarkable similarities between the bones in the forelimbs of various tetrapods, all of whose limbs serve very different functions.