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Genetics

  • A three-dimensional model of methionine is superimposed on a phase contrast micrograph of Saccharomyces cerevisiae from a log phase culture.

    Follow the Sulfur: Using Yeast Mutants to Study a Metabolic Pathway

    Learning Objectives
    At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
    • use spot plating techniques to compare the growth of yeast strains on solid culture media.
    • predict the ability of specific met deletion strains to grow on media containing various sulfur sources.
    • predict how mutations in specific genes will affect the concentrations of metabolites in the pathways involved in methionine biosynthesis.
  • A pair of homologous chromosomes.

    Meiosis: A Play in Three Acts, Starring DNA Sequence

    Learning Objectives
    • Students will be able to identify sister chromatids and homologous chromosomes at different stages of meiosis.
    • Students will be able to identify haploid and diploid cells, whether or not the chromosomes are replicated.
    • Students will be able to explain why homologous chromosomes must pair during meiosis.
    • Students will be able to relate DNA sequence similarity to chromosomal structures.
    • Students will be able to identify crossing over as the key to proper pairing of homologous chromosomes during meiosis.
    • Students will be able to predict the outcomes of meiosis for a particular individual or cell.
  • pClone Red Makes Research Look Easy

    Using Synthetic Biology and pClone Red for Authentic Research on Promoter Function: Introductory Biology (identifying...

    Learning Objectives
    • Describe how cells can produce proteins at the right time and correct amount.
    • Diagram how a repressor works to reduce transcription.
    • Diagram how an activator works to increase transcription.
    • Identify a new promoter from literature and design a method to clone it and test its function.
    • Successfully and safely manipulate DNA and Escherichia coli for ligation and transformation experiments.
    • Design an experiment to verify a new promoter has been cloned into a destination vector.
    • Design an experiment to measure the strength of a promoter.
    • Analyze data showing reporter protein produced and use the data to assess promoter strength.
    • Define type IIs restriction enzymes.
    • Distinguish between type II and type IIs restriction enzymes.
    • Explain how Golden Gate Assembly (GGA) works.
    • Measure the relative strength of a promoter compared to a standard promoter.
  • The mechanisms regulating the trp operon system.

    Discovering Prokaryotic Gene Regulation with Simulations of the trp Operon

    Learning Objectives
    Students will be able to:
    • Perturb and interpret simulations of the trp operon.
    • Define how simulation results relate to cellular events.
    • Describe the biological role of the trp operon.
    • Describe cellular mechanisms regulating the trp operon.
    • Explain mechanistically how changes in the extracellular environment affect the trp operon.
    • Define the impact of mutations on trp operon expression and regulation.
  • Summary diagram of the Pipeline CURE. A diagram describing how undergraduates, faculty, and research trainees progress through a sequence of guided research activities that develop student independence.

    The Pipeline CURE: An Iterative Approach to Introduce All Students to Research Throughout a Biology Curriculum
  • Arabidopsis Seedling

    Linking Genotype to Phenotype: The Effect of a Mutation in Gibberellic Acid Production on Plant Germination

    Learning Objectives
    Students will be able to:
    • identify when germination occurs.
    • score germination in the presence and absence of GA to construct graphs of collated class data of wild-type and mutant specimens.
    • identify the genotype of an unknown sample based on the analysis of their graphical data.
    • organize data and perform quantitative data analysis.
    • explain the importance of GA for plant germination.
    • connect the inheritance of a mutation with the observed phenotype.
  • DNA barcoding research in first-year biology curriculum

    CURE-all: Large Scale Implementation of Authentic DNA Barcoding Research into First-Year Biology Curriculum

    Learning Objectives
    Students will be able to: Week 1-4: Fundamentals of Science and Biology
    • List the major processes involved in scientific discovery
    • List the different types of scientific studies and which types can establish causation
    • Design experiments with appropriate controls
    • Create and evaluate phylogenetic trees
    • Define taxonomy and phylogeny and explain their relationship to each other
    • Explain DNA sequence divergence and how it applies to evolutionary relationships and DNA barcoding
    Week 5-6: Ecology
    • Define and measure biodiversity and explain its importance
    • Catalog organisms using the morphospecies concept
    • Geographically map organisms using smartphones and an online mapping program
    • Calculate metrics of species diversity using spreadsheet software
    • Use spreadsheet software to quantify and graph biodiversity at forest edges vs. interiors
    • Write a formal lab report
    Week 7-11: Cellular and Molecular Biology
    • Extract, amplify, visualize and sequence DNA using standard molecular techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing)
    • Explain how DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and Sanger sequencing work at the molecular level
    Week 12-13: Bioinformatics
    • Trim and assemble raw DNA sequence data
    • Taxonomically identify DNA sequences isolated from unknown organisms using BLAST
    • Visualize sequence data relationships using sequence alignments and gene-based phylogenetic trees
    • Map and report data in a publicly available online database
    • Share data in a formal scientific poster
  • Bacteria growing on petri dish

    You and Your Oral Microflora: Introducing non-biology majors to their “forgotten organ”

    Learning Objectives
    Students will be able to:
    • Explain both beneficial and detrimental roles of microbes in human health.
    • Compare and contrast DNA replication as it occurs inside a cell versus in a test tube
    • Identify an unknown sequence of DNA by performing a BLAST search
    • Navigate sources of scientific information to assess the accuracy of their experimental techniques
  • Image from a clicker-based case study on muscular dystrophy and the effect of mutations on the processes in the central dogma.

    A clicker-based case study that untangles student thinking about the processes in the central dogma

    Learning Objectives
    Students will be able to:
    • explain the differences between silent (no change in the resulting amino acid sequence), missense (a change in the amino acid sequence), and nonsense (a change resulting in a premature stop codon) mutations.
    • differentiate between how information is encoded during DNA replication, transcription, and translation.
    • evaluate how different types of mutations (silent, missense, and nonsense) and the location of those mutations (intron, exon, and promoter) differentially affect the processes in the central dogma.
    • predict the molecular (DNA size, mRNA length, mRNA abundance, and protein length) and/or phenotypic consequences of mutations.