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This case study synthesizes students' knowledge of the central dogma and cell structure by examining a rare health disorder in order to understand protein targeting and its medical consequences. Students first identify the molecular alteration in affected members of a family with renal Fanconi syndrome as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (2014). Students then use an online bioinformatics tool to analyze the wildtype and mutant proteins and examine their subcellular localization. Finally, students use this information to explain the symptoms of affected family members. The case is delivered with a PowerPoint presentation that includes a selection of brainstorming prompts and "clicker questions." Students complete a worksheet (included in the teaching notes) before class, making the activity suitable for a flipped classroom. A second worksheet (also included in the teaching notes) is completed during class. The case is written for an introductory biology course for majors, but could also be used as a unit capstone in a non-majors human biology course; the case is also scalable to upper division courses in physiology that specifically explore kidney function.

The researchers' approach to developing the method was adopted from food science, where it is used for control of complex industrial processes. Basically, it involves handling and analysing huge amounts of biological data in a holistic and explorative way. The researchers analysed all compounds a blood sample contains instead of - as is often done in health and medical science - examining what a single biomarker means in relation to a specific disease. "When a huge amount of relevant measurements from many individuals is used to assess health risks - here breast cancer - it creates very high quality information. The more measurements our analyses contain, the better the model handles complex problems," continued Professor Rasmus Bro.

The theory of evolution by natural selection is simple, elegant, and profound. Yet, a large number of undergraduate students including biology majors, medical students, and pre-service science teachers maintain a large set of misconceptions that interfere with a solid understanding of the process of natural selection. It is also well known that lecturing is an insufficient strategy to help students confront and correct these misconceptions. This activity uses the evolution of coat color in oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus) as the basis of a case study in which students investigate the role of variation, heritability, and selection in the evolution of a trait. Students examine graphs, data, and excerpts from a series of papers that have been published about this system over the last 100 years. The content is delivered as an interrupted case and encourages peer-to-peer teaching and interaction. The case is appropriate for use in non-major, introductory, or advanced biology courses.

I'd come that afternoon to witness what has become a rarity: the non-forensic medical autopsy. "Autopsy" means to see for oneself, and that is exactly what doctors once did. Fifty years ago we performed autopsies on roughly half of patients who died in hospitals. Today, the number of autopsies has dwindled to less than 10 percent, with next to none in nonacademic hospitals.