Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe how changes to gene expression can cause cancerExplain how changes to gene expression at different levels can disrupt the cell cycleDiscuss how understanding regulation of gene expression can lead to better drug design

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain the process of epigenetic regulationDescribe how access to DNA is controlled by histone modification

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Understand RNA splicing and explain its role in regulating gene expressionDescribe the importance of RNA stability in gene regulation

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Discuss the role of transcription factors in gene regulationExplain how enhancers and repressors regulate gene expression

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Understand the process of translation and discuss its key factorsDescribe how the initiation complex controls translationExplain the different ways in which the post-translational control of gene expression takes place

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the steps involved in prokaryotic gene regulationExplain the roles of activators, inducers, and repressors in gene regulation

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Discuss why every cell does not express all of its genesDescribe how prokaryotic gene regulation occurs at the transcriptional levelDiscuss how eukaryotic gene regulation occurs at the epigenetic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe how signaling pathways direct protein expression, cellular metabolism, and cell growthIdentify the function of PKC in signal transduction pathwaysRecognize the role of apoptosis in the development and maintenance of a healthy organism

This outline was created for use with my online Fundamentals of Biology course at West Hills College, Lemoore, CA. It is intended to accompany Concepts of Biology by Open Stax.

Cloning is an amazing technology that allows us to make exact copies of living organisms.  From duplicating organs to designer babies, the possibilities are endless; however, there are numerous drawbacks to cloning creatures. In this lesson you will explore how cloning works and identify your core values and feelings on the concepts. And finally, you will produce a presentation that outlines the benefits and drawbacks  of this technology.StandardsBIO.B.2.4Explain how genetic engineering has impacted the fields of medicine, forensics, and agriculture (e.g., selective breeding, gene splicing, cloning, genetically modified organisms, gene therapy).

Express yourself through your genes! See if you can generate and collect three types of protein, then move on to explore the factors that affect protein synthesis in a cell.

This exercise is designed to help students identify the parts of a gene and an mRNA. The exercise requires a synthesis of their understanding of the various steps of gene expression.