Students construct paper recombinant plasmids to simulate the methods genetic engineers use to create modified bacteria. They learn what role enzymes, DNA and genes play in the modification of organisms. For the particular model they work on, they isolate a mammal insulin gene and combine it with a bacteria's gene sequence (plasmid DNA) for production of the protein insulin.

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 the structure of DNAExplain the Sanger method of DNA sequencingDiscuss the similarities and differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomesDistinguish between chromosomes, genes, and traitsDescribe the mechanisms of chromosome compaction

This genomics education lesson plan was formulated and tested on some year 6 students with the help of their teacher Michelle Pardini at the Hong Kong ICS School. Using the example of the ongoing citizen science Bahinia Genome project from Hong Kong it hopes to serve as a model to inspire and inform other national genome projects, and aid the development of crucial genomic literacy and skills across the globe. Inspiring and training a new generation of scientists to use these tools to tackle the biggest threats to mankind: climate change, disease, and food security. It is released under a CC-BY SA 4.0 license, and utilised the following slide deck and final quiz. Promoting open science, all of the data and resources produced from the project is immediately put into the public domain. Please feel free to utilise, adapt and build upon any of these as you wish. The open licence makes these open education resources usable just with attribution and posting of modified resources under a similar manner. Contact BauhiniaGenome if you have any questions or feedback.Bauhinia Genome overviewFor a slidedeck for the lesson plan laid out here you can use the set in slideshare here.

For more than two decades J. Craig Venter and his research teams have been pioneers in genomic research. Regarded as one of the leading scientist of the 21st century, Venter discusses how he is applying tools and techniques developed to sequence the human genomes to discover new genes of microbes from around the world. (57 minutes)

This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" looks at the meaning and significance of the effort to decode the human genome.

Students learn how engineers apply their understanding of DNA to manipulate specific genes to produce desired traits, and how engineers have used this practice to address current problems facing humanity. They learn what genetic engineering means and examples of its applications, as well as moral and ethical problems related to its implementation. Students fill out a flow chart to list the methods to modify genes to create GMOs and example applications of bacteria, plant and animal GMOs.

One of the fastest-growing areas of medical research is that of genetic testing and gene therapy. This chapter introduces students to this area of DNA research and helps them explore the related ethical issues. Scientists have recently completed a preliminary ‰ŰĎmap‰Ű of all the genes in the human body. This is also known as the Human Genome Project and consists of all the sequences of DNA chemical units that tell a cell how to behave. This accomplishment has incredible benefits. However, it also raises new, complex issues that society cannot ignore.

Students perform an activity similar to the childhood “telephone” game in which each communication step represents a biological process related to the passage of DNA from one cell to another. This game tangibly illustrates how DNA mutations can happen over several cell generations and the effects the mutations can have on the proteins that cells need to produce. Next, students use the results from the “telephone” game (normal, substitution, deletion or insertion) to test how the mutation affects the survivability of an organism in the wild. Through simple enactments, students act as “predators” and “eat” (remove) the organism from the environment, demonstrating natural selection based on mutation.

Students learn about mutations to both DNA and chromosomes, and uncontrolled changes to the genetic code. They are introduced to small-scale mutations (substitutions, deletions and insertions) and large-scale mutations (deletion duplications, inversions, insertions, translocations and nondisjunctions). The effects of different mutations are studied as well as environmental factors that may increase the likelihood of mutations. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-assessments are provided.