Category Archives: 04 Genetics

Dihybrid Crosses, Gene Linkage and Recombination

More links to be added very soon.

Worksheets: sooty-dihybrids-and-linkage, understanding-recombination

Theoretical Genetics

More links to animations to be updated as soon as possible.

Gene Therapy ‘Reverses Hereditary Blindness’

Awesome. And just in time for the Grade 11 Genetics unit!

Here’s the NewScientist article. And here’s an old one about gene therapy treating deafness.

Here is an article from the Guardian’s Science section that sums it up nicely.

Learn.Genetics @ Utah has loads of gene therapy interactives to learn more.

And for the hard-of-researching, here is the gene therapy wikipedia page.

Exciting times we live in.

The Chi-Squared Test

One for my Grade 11 Biologists:

Animal Farm (Not the Orwellian one)

A while ago I posted about glowing pigs and fish and couldn’t work out where it had come from. Thanks to stitchintime from the TES Boards, I found out it was from Channel 4’s ‘Animal Farm’ series on genetic engineering.

Here’s the first part of episode 1:

It’s probably a good idea to save all the parts of it before it gets taken down. Here’s the link.

Chromosomes, Genes, Alleles and Mutations

Chromosomes, Genes and Alleles:

Here’s a YouTube clip:

Let’s start with a tour of the basics from Learn.Genetics at Utah.

DNA coiling on histone proteins from biostudio.com

A description of chromosomes from Dexter Pratt

Zooming in to Chromosome 11 (a bit too advanced) from the DNA Learning Centre’s Gene Almanac

Transcription Java game from thinkquest.org
Mutations:

How do mutations occur? from the DNAi at the Dolan DNA Learning Centre

Evolution of Sickle Cell: Resistance to Malaria

Sickle Cell Anemia: A Mutation Story from the excellent Evolution Library.

Human Genome Project

First stop, the official website from the National Institute of Health

Here’s a great interactive from DNAi at the Dolan DNA Learning Centre

Now for some videos:

Mickey-Mouse introduction, bit of review on transcription and translation:….

If you have a spare hour (I don’t), here’s Charlie Rose interviewing Dr. J. Craig Venter:

Here’s James Watson (famous for co-discovering the structure of DNA and the first person to receive their own personal genome) chatting with NewScientist:

And don’t forget Learn.Genetics excellent site.

John Kyrk – Cell Biology Animation

JohnKyrk.com - an excellent site for BiochemThis guy has spent a lot of time and effort on these animations, and they are brilliant.

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Visit his main page at www.johnkyrk.com and you’ll find all you need for IB Bio HL Cells and Chemistry of Life.

Protein Synthesis: Transcription and Translation linklist

There are many decent Flash animations and the like on the internet, but the majority cannot be embedded. Below this YouTube video, there are some direct links to resources, some of which can be easily saved.

Learn.Genetics @ Utah

Transcribe and Translate (good, basic, interactive)

How do fireflies glow? (puts it in context)

University of Nebraska:

Protein Synthesis overview (Good enough for SL)

Transcription Details (fits DP Bio HL very well)

Translation Details (fits DP Bio HL very well)

John Kyrk: (visit the parent site at www.johnkyrk.com – excellent)

Transcription (fits DP Bio HL very well)

Translation (fits DP Bio HL very well)

St. Olaf College

Transcription (clear and simple)

Translation (clear and simple)

WH Freeman

RNA Splicing tutorial (HL only)

Bio3400

Translation with a genetic code dictionary (shows position in the ribosome)

Some more in-depth animations (newly added):

Translation from Wiley Interscience

Translation from LSU Medschool

Translation from The Chinese University in Hong Kong

Protein targeting from Rockefeller University

Learn.Genetics @ Utah

Easily the best Genetics resource out there. Loads of Flash animations, Shockwave virtual labs and up-to-date information. Well worth spending some time there and seeing what could be used in class. Teachers can register for news and teaching ideas.

 

Virtual labs include DNA Extraction, Gel Electrophoresis and a DNA Microarray. Perfect for the DP Genetics unit.