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:Classify the different types of bones in the skeletonExplain the role of the different cell types in boneExplain how bone forms during development

Students use a tension-compression machine (or an alternative bone-breaking setup) to see how different bones fracture differently and with different amounts of force, depending on their body locations. Teams determine bone mass and volume, calculate bone density, and predict fracture force. Then they each test a small animal bone (chicken, turkey, cat) to failure, examining the break to analyze the fracture type. Groups conduct research about biomedical challenges, materials and repair methods, and design repair treatment plans specific to their bones and fracture types, presenting their design recommendations to the class.

Students learn how forces affect the human skeletal system through fractures and why certain bones are more likely to break than others depending on their design and use in the body. They learn how engineers and doctors collaborate to design effective treatments with consideration for the location, fracture severity and patient age, as well as the use of biocompatible materials. Learning the lesson content prepares students for the associated activity in which they test small animal bones to failure and then design treatment repair plans.

Students will answer the Challenge Question and use the acquired learning from Lesson 1, "Fix the Hip Challenge" and Lesson 2, "Skeletal System Overview"to construct an informative brochure addressing osteoporosis and the role biomedical engineering plays in diagnosing and preventing this disease.

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:

"Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most deadly cancer in the world. One hallmark of CRC progression is metastasis to the bone, which makes it harder to cure. Metabolites from cancer cells are becoming increasingly recognized as mediators of tumor progression. A recent study examined one such metabolite – lactic acid, which regulates immunity, metabolism, and angiogenesis. CRC patients with bone metastasis have higher levels of lactic acid, but the detailed metabolite-mediated communication underlying CRC metastasis is unclear. Using a mouse model, researchers evaluated the effect of lactic acid on proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of osteoclast precursors. They found that lactic acid promotes the expression of CXCL10 and Cadherin-11 in osteoclast precursor cells, promoting osteoclast differentiation and facilitating metastatic niche formation in CRC bone metastasis. This process was mediated by the PI3K-AKT pathway, and blocking PI3K-AKT efficiently prevented lactate-mediated bone metastasis..."

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

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:

"G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are at the center of a vast array of physiological processes, making them attractive targets for drug discovery. One GPCR – GPR55 – has been implicated in multiple biological functions, including bone turnover and inflammatory pain. To better understand the mechanisms behind GPR55-mediated signal transduction, a recent study evaluated GPR55 in human cell lines. In HeLa cells, GPR55 Lys⁸⁰ was required for lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI)-induced activation of MAPK signaling and for receptor internalization, and in macrophages, silencing GPR55 blocked cytoskeletal reorganization and calcium signaling pathways. Osteoclast differentiation was associated with a 14-fold increase in GPR55 mRNA levels, and silencing GPR55 impaired the expression of a variety of osteoclastogenesis markers. A GPR55-specific peptide inhibitor, P1, was identified and shown to inhibit in-vitro osteoclast maturation..."

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

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:

"Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease characterized by bone thinning. Although it’s typically associated with old age, osteoporosis is believed to originate in the womb. One contributing factor is prenatal treatment with dexamethasone, which is used to promote lung development in babies at risk of preterm birth. Prenatal dexamethasone disrupts osteoblast differentiation, but it’s unclear how it affects osteoclasts. To learn more, researchers recently examined osteoclasts in the female offspring of dexamethasone-treated pregnant rats. They found that prenatal dexamethasone inhibited osteoclast development in the fetal rats. When these rats grew into adults, their osteoclasts were hyperactive, leading to reduced peak bone mass. Mechanistic experiments revealed that dexamethasone reduced the methylation of lysyl oxidase and upregulated its expression, by increasing the expression and binding of GR and ERβ and by upregulating Tet3..."

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

Through this unit, written for an honors anatomy and physiology class, students become familiar with the human skeletal system and answer the Challenge Question: When you get home from school, your mother grabs you, and you race to the hospital. Your grandmother fell and was rushed to the emergency room. The doctor tells your family your grandmother has a fractured hip, and she is referring her to an orthopedic specialist. The orthopedic doctor decides to perform a DEXA scan. The result show her BMD is -3.3. What would be a probable diagnosis to her condition? What are some possible causes of her condition? Should her daughter and granddaughter be worried about this condition, and if so, what are measures they could take to prevent this from happening to them?

Students will learn about bone structure, bone development and growth, and bone functions. Later, students will apply this understanding to answer the Challenge Question presented in the "Fix the Hip" lesson and use the acquired learning to construct an informative brochure about osteoporosis and biomedical engineering contributions to this field.

Students are introduced to the concepts of the challenge question. First independently, and then in small groups, they generate ideas for solving the grand challenge introduced in the associated lesson: Your grandmother has a fractured hip and a BMD of -3.3. What medical diagnosis explains her condition? What are some possible causes? What are preventative measures for other family members? Students complete a worksheet that contains the pertinent questions, as well as develop additional questions of their own, all with the focus on determining what additional background knowledge they need to research. Finally, as a class, students compile their ideas, resulting in a visual as a learning supplement.

Students will use this activity to determine what keeps our bones strong. Soaking the bones in vinegar will remove the calcium from the bones causing them to become soft and rubbery. Students will find that when we age, calcium is depleted from our bones faster than we can restore it. They will then determine what complications can arise from it.