Category Archives: DNA
DNA Structure (Core and AHL)
This is a short one – class presentation is here (click shadowed images for animations and movies):
Here’s a decent video from BBC AS Guru with David Suzuki:
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And here’s a very stylized video of DNA structure from Hybrid Medical Animation. See if you can narrate it:
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The story of the discovery of the double-helix structure is a good example international collaboration and competition, and led to the Nobel prize for Crick, Watson and Wilson (who we never hear about). You’ve got to feel for Rosalind Franklin – her work was key in their discovery and she wasn’t cited for it until after her death.
Here’s a great video, though the presenter sound like he has a mouth full of marbles:
Interactive Concepts in Biochemistry
Found this useful source on North Harris College’s linklist. 
Wiley.com have produced this online resource for Biochemistry and the Chemistry of Life, and it contains a whole load of interactives and animations.
It is an ideal resource for: photosynthesis, respiration, DNA replication, transcription, translation, cell structure, enzymes and protein synthesis.
New resources at Learn.Genetics
This is via the Learn.Genetics mailing list. Why not join – they only send mails out when there’s something worth reading.
Coming soon, Amazing Cells:activities and animations on cell processes and communication.
Also, a new interactive lab activity: Polymerase Chain Reaction Biotechniques lab.
Synthetic Biology – the man-made future?
Where’s the money in Biology? Probably where the future lies – genetics and synthetic biology.
As we learn more about genomes and the way different organisms (including pathogens) work, we can move towards creating targeted responses and DNA-level manipulation. Synthetic biologists take DNA and try to re-work it into a solution to a problem – by creating synthetic DNA, they hope to achieve control over the functions of the organism. They hope to generate alternative sources of fuel, targeted treatments and vaccines and many more applications.
Click on the image to the right to download a useful poster from SEED magazine.
BioBricks (company link) are a leading example of synthetic biology in action. Think of them like lego bricks or parts of standard computer code – you can take them and (theoretically) fit them into any genome. This is one of the wonders of DNA – base-pairings and the universality of the genetic code allow these researchers endless opportunities for tinkering and advancing science. Some BioBricks are ‘parts’, some are ‘devices’ and others are ‘systems’ – sections of code that increase in complexity and functionality.
There is an exciting world of information out there about this topic, and it’s well worth looking at if you think your future lies in biotechnology. It’s a discipline that pulls together Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Engineering and Programming, and the ways in are various. If you want to find out more about a career in synthetic biology, MIT are world-leaders in the field.
For a quick explanation of how synthetic biology works (and an interesting hardware/software analogy) watch the video from ScientificAmerican below:
You might also want to read ‘Prey’ by Michael Crichton for a bit of light holiday scare-mongering. Imagine ‘The Andromeda Strain‘ with nanoparticles.
And while we’re on the subject of Scientific American, you may as well check out their video channel on YouTube. It’s much like the NewScientist one.
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.
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.
i-Biology 