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 gel electrophoresisExplain molecular and reproductive cloningDescribe uses of biotechnology in medicine and agriculture

With the emerging genetic testing companies such as “23 and Me” and “Ancestry”, it is becoming more popular and accessible for families to test their own genes rather than from a primary care provider. The purpose of this activity is to analyze multiple angles of genetic testing. Students will look at multiple areas of health including mental, emotional, and physical health and how it can impact their personal health and the health of loved ones.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among men and women and carries a poor prognosis; the percentage of patients living five years after diagnosis is just 5 to 10%. But certain patients with pancreatic cancer could fare better than others. A new study suggests that patients with a deficiency in genes responsible for responding to DNA damage could experience significantly superior outcomes compared with other patients following platinum-based chemotherapy. The findings support broader testing for germline mutations in patients with pancreatic cancer, as certain mutations could enhance the effects of anticancer therapeutics. The authors of the study reviewed medical records and genetic testing results to identify patients with pancreatic cancer who harbored mutations in DNA-damage response genes, including the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and 2. These genes help repair DNA breaks that can lead to cancer and uncontrolled tumor growth..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.