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23min video Cells are everywhere. They are the basic structural, functional and biological units of all known living organisms. Cells are the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and are often called the "building blocks of life". But, there's more...

 A team of scientists has announced that the age of the synthetic chromosome is upon us, as a study published in Science today reveals how the group was able to construct a yeast chromosome from scratch - an experiment that allowed the team to make fully functional "designer yeast."

Research will make the study of diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's easier, and could lead to personalized therapies for a variety of neurodegenerative disorders. The nerve cells generated by this new method show the same functional characteristics as the mature cells found in the body, making them much better models for the study of age-related diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and for the testing of new drugs.

Venom - information on protein structure and function, following scenario of a scorpion bite.  Interactive game and activities included on site.

Blood type may affect brain function as we age, according to a new large, long-term study. People with the rare AB blood type, present in less than 10 percent of the population, have a higher than usual risk of cognitive problems as they age.

In most animals, the drive to breed and produce offspring is strong. However, most males live their whole lives without having the chance to breed. The events leading up to mating can be very dangerous and also very costly to an individual. Some males have evolved elaborate structures, or weapons, as a result. The structures do help males in both combative situations and with attracting females, but ironically, the structures themselves come with certain costs. This flipped case study provides students with the opportunity to not only see how animal structures and functions are linked, but also to see how certain animal structures are needed and costly. There are videos that students are expected to view before the case. The case was initially designed for a second semester college general biology class for majors. However, it can also be used in non-major biology classes. Students should have some background knowledge of natural selection, specifically sexual selection as well as energetic demands of certain structures.

5:12 video animation describes the basics of enzyme structure and function. This includes enzyme substrates and active sites, enzyme denaturation, and competitive and non-competitive inhibition.

A selection of articles to further your understanding of the production and function of blood within the human body; the views about blood that predominated for centuries and the medical practices that such views helped to engender; the advancements in the medical use and collection of blood brought on by war, most notably World War II; modern-day techniques for the collection, storage, and use of blood. Some articles are augmented by video clips from RED GOLD: THE EPIC STORY OF BLOOD. (The free RealPlayer plug-in is required to view the clips.)

Last month, researchers announced they were studying a 30,000-year-old giant virus called Mollivirus sibericum that they found in melted Siberian permafrost. The virus was functional and able to infect amoeba. This isn't the first time researchers have found big viruses that have challenged what we thought we knew about the tiny invaders. Mimivirus, discovered in 2003, has 1,200 genes and is twice the width of traditional viruses.

Taylor must write a report about a natural toxin while she is home from college on break. After a family dinner conversation about the latest attempt to poison a politician via a letter, Taylor decides to explore how ricin acts as a poison. Students work in small groups to help Taylor by working through figures from primary literature papers and exploring the use of an in vitro translation system, sucrose gradient fractionation and the effect of inhibiting various steps of translation.  A shorter, second day activity involves students looking further at the effect of ricin upon ribosome function and at the ricin protein itself.  Students individually complete a cumulative assignment of writing a letter back to Mom and Dad about how ricin has its effects. This case was designed for use in a second semester biochemistry course or a molecular biology course that incorporates the mechanism of transcription. Prerequisite knowledge includes a general understanding of the steps of translation and the ability to interpret data from agarose gels.

Buckle up for a prokaryote and eukaryote comparison before taking a ride into a cell to explore organelle structures and functions! This cell introduction also includes the modern cell theory.

3:45 video, From the microbes in our stomachs to the ones on our teeth, we are homes to millions of unique and diverse communities which help our bodies function. Jessica Green and Karen Guillemin emphasize the importance of understanding the many organisms that make up each and every organism.

This case study was developed for an introductory biology course with the goal of integrating content (specifically, structure/function, signaling pathways, and homeostasis) while reinforcing general critical thinking skills and the scientific method (generating hypotheses, evaluating evidence, and making predictions). The case is suitable for a flipped classroom and there are several videos associated with it. The case revolves around an obese two-and-a-half-year-old boy who won't stop eating. Students become familiar with some basic concepts related to obesity and leptin signaling through the videos that they watch before class. They then use class time to work through the case (delivered as an interactive slide show, including several clicker questions) to determine the genetic basis for this child's obesity and possible therapies to manage his weight. The case could also be adapted and expanded to be used in a physiology course to explore the interaction of various hormones that regulate appetite and metabolic rate or in a cell biology class to explore JAK-STAT signaling.

Because the gene-enzyme system forms a closed loop, it presents us with a classic chicken or egg conundrum: Which came first, genes or the protein enzymes they code for? While the details are still not fully worked out, discoveries over the past few decades have lead researchers to a surprising possible solution: What really came first? Genes that act as enzymes! The RNA World Hypothesis is the idea that before living cells, the genetic code, and the gene/protein cycle ever existed, chains of a chemical called RNA were forming naturally. Once formed, some of these chains were able to function as enzymes, and were even able to evolve by making copies of themselves with slight, accidental modifications.

In a unique twist on human genomics studies that seek to identify genetic variants linked to human disease, researchers have combined whole-exome sequencing of 50,726 adults with the individuals' long-term electronic health record (EHR) data. The effort, by researchers at the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania and Regeneron Genetics Center, a subsidiary of New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, has yielded novel disease-linked variants, including loss-of-function alleles. The team behind the project, called DiscovEHR, has also found that about one in 30 of the individuals harbors a deleterious genetic variant for which a screen or treatment already exists. The group's analysis is described in two papers published today (December 22) in Science.

In our first animation of this series we learned how point mutations can edit genetic information. Here we see how duplication events can dramatically lengthen the genetic code of an individual. As point mutations add up in the duplicated region across generations, entirely new genes with new functions can evolve. In the video we see three examples of gene duplications resulting in new traits for the creatures who inherit them: the evolution of a venom gene in snakes, the evolution of leaf digestion genes in monkeys, and the evolution of burrowing legs in hunting dogs.

The study is the first to examine all of the gene networks affected by fructose that result in changes to brain function and metabolism-more than 20,000 genes in total. Although the study was conducted using rats, the researchers report that the majority of the sequenced genes are comparable to those in humans, including more than 200 genes in the hippocampus, a brain area crucial to memory, and 700 in the hypothalamus, the seat of the brain's metabolic control center.

In this case, developed for an introductory genetics class, students meet a woman whose family has a history of colon cancer. Students create a pedigree based on information from the case and discuss what it means to be genetically predisposed to cancer. Using bioinformatics tools from the NCBI database, students identify and examine the mutation in the woman's APC gene that results in genetic predisposition to colon cancer. Finally, they investigate the biological function of the APC protein to understand why this mutation contributes to the development of cancer and determine whether APC is a proto-oncogene, tumor suppressor gene, or genome stability gene.

This case study was inspired by a real-life scenario, and follows the story of Roberto, a migrant farmworker whose health is impacted by the usage of pesticides on a farm.  With the help of a health care provider, Roberto becomes aware of the effects of pesticides on his well-being. Students utilize a database and draw conclusions from data in order to answer the case questions.  The case concludes with an activity that uses the "intimate debate" technique in which students use scientific data as evidence to argue whether or not the pesticide under discussion should be banned from usage.  This case was originally developed for undergraduate anatomy and physiology or toxicology courses. Students are expected to have some background knowledge in nerve structure and function as well as the mechanics of neural transmission before starting the case.

In this video Paul Andersen explains the basic anatomy of a neuron; including the dendrites, cell body, axon hillock, axon, and axon terminal. He also describes how neurons are classified both structurally and functionally.