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:Explain the process of DNA replication in prokaryotesDiscuss the role of different enzymes and proteins in supporting this process

Fundamentals of Biology focuses on the basic principles of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and recombinant DNA. These principles are necessary to understanding the basic mechanisms of life and anchor the biological knowledge that is required to understand many of the challenges in everyday life, from human health and disease to loss of biodiversity and environmental quality.
Course Format

This course has been designed for independent study. It consists of four units, one for each topic. The units can be used individually or in combination. The materials for each unit include:

Lecture Videos by MIT faculty.
Learning activities, including Interactive Concept Quizzes, designed to reinforce main concepts from lectures.
Problem Sets you do on your own and check your answers against the Solutions when you're done.
Problem Solving Video help sessions taught by experienced MIT Teaching Assistants.
Lists of important Terms and Definitions.
Suggested Topics and Links for further study.
Exams with Solution Keys.

Content Development

Eric Lander
Robert Weinberg
Tyler Jacks
Hazel Sive
Graham Walker
Sallie Chisholm
Dr. Michelle Mischke

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:

"Neddylation is the process by which the molecule NEDD8 is attached to cellular proteins. Elevated neddylation in the body has been linked to various cancers. Inhibiting this protein modification has therefore become a promising anticancer strategy. A new study describes how researchers used this anti-neddylation approach to kill esophageal cancer cells. The team treated lab-grown esophageal cancer cells with MLN4924, a known neddylation inhibitor. They found that MLN4924 indirectly led to the programmed cell death, or apoptosis, of the cancer cells. By reducing neddylation, MLN4924 actually promoted a cell survival mechanism known as autophagy. Autophagy keeps cells healthy and alive by clearing harmful debris. Interestingly, it also gave the researchers access to a “kill switch” for diverting from autophagy to apoptosis. That switch came in the form of the protein ATF3, which can be silenced to cause cell death..."

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