The Biology Faculty is a new, free educational resource for secondary schools and especially those A-level students thinking about applying to University. We have a growing library of short, downloadable films of university lecturers speaking on topics from the A-level curriculum

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, learn about bubonic plague and how city officials in San Francisco tried to contain its spread in the early 1900s..

This curriculum supplement brings into the classroom new information about some of the exciting medical discoveries being made at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their effects on public health. This set is being distributed to teachers around the country free of charge by the NIH to improve science literacy and to foster student interest in science. The first three supplements in the series are designed for use in senior high school science classrooms: Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (with expertise from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases); Cell Biology and Cancer (with expertise from the National Cancer Institute); Human Genetic Variation (with expertise from the National Human Genome Research Institute).

This site explores factors associated with disease emergence and re-emergence and considers the human activities that can increase or decrease the likelihood of outbreaks of infectious diseases. Students play the role of epidemiologists looking for clues to solve the case of a mystery disease, watch simulations of herd immunity and the impact of vaccination programs, and assign limited funds to three proposals submitted to address a major infectious disease.

Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases has two objectives: to introduce students to major concepts related to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and to convey to students the relationship between basic biomedical research and the improvement of personal and public health. The improvement of personal and public health is the central mission of the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest organization devoted to biomedical research, and the funding agency for this module.

This course consists of an international analysis of the impact of epidemic diseases on western society and culture from the bubonic plague to HIV/AIDS and the recent experience of SARS and swine flu. Leading themes include: infectious disease and its impact on society; the development of public health measures; the role of medical ethics; the genre of plague literature; the social reactions of mass hysteria and violence; the rise of the germ theory of disease; the development of tropical medicine; a comparison of the social, cultural, and historical impact of major infectious diseases; and the issue of emerging and re-emerging diseases.

In this podcast Professor Robert Dingwall, Director of the 'Institute of Science and Society' at the University of Nottingham, and a member of the UK government’s Department of Heath committee on the ethical aspects of pandemic influenza, discusses the causes and potential impact of a flu pandemic on the UK. In particular, examining how prepared the UK government is to cope with the medical and social impacts of a flu pandemic, and what steps we can take as individuals to protect ourselves.

In the last century, there were three separate flu pandemics, the most serious of which occurred in 1918, which is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of 50 million people worldwide. Professor Dingwall discusses the likelihood of another flu pandemic happening in the future and the differing methods available for protecting the population. He also discusses how a flu pandemic could be defeated, emphasising the importance of the role of the wider community and personal responsibility. Professor Dingwall also discusses the potential impact of a flu pandemic on the workplace, in particular health care professionals and the conflicting responsibilities to themselves, their families and their jobs.

How prepared are we in the UK for the potential impact of a flu pandemic?

Students take on different roles to learn about DNA and genetic diseases, including how a genetic disease causes a person to get sick, how we test for and treat a genetic disease, and how we help people to make better decisions regarding all the complicated issues involved with genetic diseases. This webquest, designed for high school and undergraduate students, is an ideal introduction to the concepts of bioinformatics, genetic diseases, and potential careers in science fields. The activity can be used in conjunction with a visit to the Koshland Science Museum’s exhibit: “Infectious Disease: Evolving Challenges to Human Health,” or as a stand-alone lesson

In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video we ask some leading researchers, education specialists, and public health officials about the state of HIV/AIDS education in America and ideas they have to support the teaching of microbial evolution using the latest HIV/AIDS research all while instilling innovative prevention strategies. Filmed at a forum for educators on February, 11, 2008 at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C. and at San Diego State University, this episode features the following experts:Roland Wolkowicz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, San Diego State University, whose research focus is on the use of random peptide libraries and other chemical genetics approaches for the study of viral pathogenesis and the search of antiviral factors in HIV1 and HCV. Shannon Lee Hader, M.D., MPH, Director of the HIV/AIDS Administration for Washington, D.C., an epidemiologist and public health physician who has worked with HIV-infected children and adults in Brazil, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe. Anila Asghar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University, whose research focuses on curriculum development and evolution. Educational resources mentioned within the video can be found online at: Koshland Science Museum http://koshlandscience.org/teachers/webquest.jsp NIH Curriculum Guide http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/Diseases/default.htm Howard Hughes Medical Institute http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/ Please feel free to embed or distribute this video.

There are many diseases that humans can contract through sexual contact with each other. Humans can lower their risk of contracting these diseases by practicing safe sex techniques if they choose to participate in those kinds of actions.

The MIT Biology Department core courses, 7.012, 7.013, and 7.014, all cover the same core material, which includes the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Biological function at the molecular level is particularly emphasized and covers the structure and regulation of genes, as well as, the structure and synthesis of proteins, how these molecules are integrated into cells, and how these cells are integrated into multicellular systems and organisms. In addition, each version of the subject has its own distinctive material. 7.014 focuses on the application of the fundamental principles toward an understanding of human biology. Topics include genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, disease (infectious agents, inherited diseases and cancer), developmental biology, neurobiology and evolution.

The MIT Biology Department core courses, 7.012, 7.013, and 7.014, all cover the same core material, which includes the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Biological function at the molecular level is particularly emphasized and covers the structure and regulation of genes, as well as, the structure and synthesis of proteins, how these molecules are integrated into cells, and how these cells are integrated into multicellular systems and organisms. In addition, each version of the subject has its own distinctive material.7.014 focuses on the application of the fundamental principles toward an understanding of human biology. Topics include genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, disease (infectious agents, inherited diseases and cancer), developmental biology, neurobiology and evolution.

This module was developed at the School of Public Health, University for the Western Cape for the Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health which was offered as a distance learning module between 2001 and 2008. It was designed to meet the growing need for an applied course in the measurement of a variety of health indicators and outcomes. Whether you manage a health programme, a health facility, or simply have to interpret health data in the course of your work, this module sets out to increase your capacity to deal with health and disease information. It aims to assist you in applying epidemiological knowledge and skills to a variety of Public Health problems such as: Is your DOTS programme succeeding? What does it mean if a TB prevalence is 850/100 000? Is this a Public Health problem or not? What is the burden of disease in different communities?

In MedMyst: Disease Defenders, players can choose to train with an epidemiologist, microbiologist, or veterinarian to learn how these experts work as a team to solve infectious disease outbreaks while using the scientific method. Each expert path has its own learning objectives and stresses different parts of the scientific method.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In this challenge, students will perform experiments to identify the germ responsible for a fungal disease. Students will follow rules or postulates worked out by Dr. Koch in the late 1800s for establishing whether a specific germ causes a particular infectious disease: 1. The suspected pathogen must be present in every case of the disease; 2. The suspected pathogen must be isolated from the host and grown in pure culture; 3. The disease must be reproduced when a pure culture of the suspected pathogen is inoculated into a healthy susceptible host; 4. The same pathogen must be recovered from the newly infected host. The Germ Theory of Disease holds that germs or microorganisms cause infectious diseases.

Funded through the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The intent of this course is to introduce students to basic tactics used by microbial pathogens to establish infectious diseases. As such, students should understand that most of the principles detailed in the course will be encountered several times during the next year of studies, particularly in the Infectious Diseases unit. The topics covered in this course deal selectively with important pathogens because Medical Microbiology will not be the only exposure of the student to infectious agents. As examples, HIV is only covered in two lectures, but you will have other opportunities to review the basics of disease caused by this virus.

Medical Microbiology is a vast and ever expanding complex field. The role of microbes in chronic illness, like coronary disease and arthritis, continues to evolve. For example, in the Emerging Infections and Agents of Biological Warfare Lecture, one will learn that while advances in identification, culture techniques, diagnosis and treatment have led to remarkable improvements in the consequences of infectious diseases worldwide in the past quarter century, newly identified pathogens continue to emerge and affect mankind, such as Ebola, anthrax, smallpox, West Nile Virus, monkeypox virus, and others.

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, follow two scientists and their Nobel Prize-winning efforts to cure bacterial infections using penicillin.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about RNAi's potential to treat a wide range of genetic and infectious diseases.