Activity - Genetics on the news

Students brought genetics-related news articles (or news podcast transcripts) and discuss them in small groups. Each group summarized the main points of the articles and presented them to the rest of the class.

Topics ranged from bacterial genetic engineering gone wrong to how certain genetic defects can make people less susceptible to cancer and diabetes (click here and here).

(a few other topics were DNA repair inked to genetic mutation, genes playing a role in choosing friends, contagious cancer affecting Tasmanian devils).

Although the foci of the articles were diverse, the trend was for students to find articles more related to molecular genetics than any other genetics field.

And, we were able to enjoy a warm(ish) weather outside!

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Lab 08 - Population genetics

Screenshot of PopCycle, by John Herron
(click on pic for full size image)
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Today we did the population genetics lab

We introduced concepts that are key to the study of population genetics such as allele frequency, genotype frequency, gene pool, and Hardy-Weinberg principle (and equilibrium) and its assumptions. When discussing the Hardy-Weinberg principle we discussed the forces that can alter allele frequency in a population: genetic drift, selection (including sexual selection), mutation, and migration.

We then then proceeded to further study Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium by running simulations on PopCycle, a software package created by Jon Herron, from the University of Washington. PopCycle allowed us to see the conditions under which allele and genotype frequencies remain constant, and it also allow us to relax some of the assumptions. We introduced the effect of genetic drift and natural selection. Students were able to observe their effect on allele frequency

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Chapter 14 - Biotechnology

Today we finished the chapter on Biotechnology. We discussed how to use DNA microarrays (a.k.a. "Gene chip") as a tool to do genetic testing.

We then discussed how tandem repeats in the human genome can be used as markers to do some DNA profiling, mainly short tandem repeats (STRs).

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LectureChapter 13 - Cloning and recombinant DNAChapter 14 - Biotechnology

We finished chapter 13, with an overview of one of the most commonly used automated DNA sequencing methods, the dye-terminator sequencing method, a modification of the Sanger method (a.k.a. chain termination - click here for an EXCELLENT video produced by the Dolan DNA learning Center).

Then we started the chapter on biotechnology, in which we provided a definition of the field, discussed its origins with the discovery of restriction enzymes in the 1970s, and did an overview of some of the most common fields within biotechnology: biopharming and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

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