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Microbiome cloud story 4:12

This case study examines the molecular methods that were used to reverse engineer the 1918 influenza virus strain in order to try and solve the mystery of why it was so deadly. The story starts in the 1950s with the unsuccessful attempts to culture the influenza virus and follows scientists through to the turn of the century when cutting edge molecular tools enabled scientists to finally resurrect the 1918 virus through reverse genetics. The history and methods involved in resurrecting this deadly virus are reviewed in class with a PowerPoint presentation containing clicker questions (answered with a personal response system) and discussion questions (answered in small groups). This "clicker case" is suitable for high school biology and lower division undergraduate biology classes for non-majors. It could also be used in any lower division non-major class focused on human disease and the history of human disease.

This indicates that the mutation originated in just one person who became the ancestor of all subsequent people in the world with blue eyes, according to a study by Professor Hans Eiberg and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen.

When ultraviolet sunlight hits our skin, it affects each of us differently. Depending on skin color, it'll take only minutes of exposure to turn one person beetroot-pink, while another requires hours to experience the slightest change. What's to account for that difference, and how did our skin come to take on so many different hues to begin with? Angela Koine Flynn describes the science of skin color.

Dean Ornish shares new research that shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level. For instance, he says, when you live healthier, eat better, exercise, and love more, your brain cells actually increase.

Research has shown that some older people stay sharp into old age and retain the ability to recall personal experiences with just as much accuracy as their middle-aged peers. The brains of these so-called "super-agers" look distinct, too: Their gray-matter-rich outer layer, or cortex, is thicker.

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has become the first cancer center in the Southeast and one of the first in the nation to offer adult cancer patients routine "genotyping" of their tumors at the DNA level.

Session description: The session will provide an introduction to the ethics of research involving human participants. It will ad-dress the history of research ethics, present a contemporary eth-ical framework, and discuss its application to differing kinds of research studies. The ethical framework consists of four principles: respect for persons, beneficence, justice, and respect for communities. Each principle provides the foundation for ethical rules, including requirements for informed consent and confidentiality of health information. Taken together these ethical principles and rules provide a comprehensive framework for the analysis of ethical challenges in health research.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was initiated because known treatments for syphilis, in 1932, had shown little demonstrated effect, in addition to being toxic and dangerous. The dependent variable in the Tuskegee Experiment (the knowledge researchers wanted), was whether persons with syphilis were, in fact, better off without the treatment.

WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- In a step toward personalized vaccines against cancer, scientists report they have developed an immune-system therapy that knocks out several types of aggressive tumors in mice. German researchers said the findings, reported April 22 in the journal Nature, could lead to a "blueprint" for developing tailored vaccines for a range of cancers. Such vaccines would be designed for individual patients, based on the specific genetic mutations in their tumors.

If you think you can rid your body of bacteria with a quick squirt of hand sanitizer, you'd be oh so wrong. Turns out we have an incredible array of microorganisms living on us AND inside us. But as Anthony tells you, these little guys do some very important work.

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.

he National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix is an online, searchable, and standards-based curriculum map for K-12 teachers. The Matrix contextualizes national education standards in science, social studies, and nutrition education with relevant instructional resources linked to Common Core Standards. Search our instructional, classroom-ready resources now! After you find what you need, consider storing them in your personal binder - MyBinder!

With moving personal stories from India, Japan, Kenya, and China, "World in the Balance" gives an up-to-date global snapshot of today's human family, now numbering 6.3 billion and likely to increase to nearly 9 billion by 2050. Paradoxically, the world is now careening in two completely different directions

This case study presents the story of "Nick," a student who has been assigned the task of writing a research paper describing the fundamentals of chemical bonds and how they relate to human life. When Nick experiences difficulty remembering information about the different types of chemical bonds, he turns to his tutor, Josh, for help. Josh explains orbitals and valence electrons to Nick, and then they together review nonpolar and polar covalent bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrogen bonds. A final practical application exercise requires that students write about how different types of chemical bonds may relate to the development of Alzheimer's disease and to the mechanism of action of potential drug treatments.  The case is presented with PowerPoint slides and is designed to be used with a personal response system ("clickers"), but students can instead record their answers on paper or share them verbally.  The content is appropriate for use in high school and undergraduate introductory chemistry and biology courses.

The hollow Cola tree growing in a remote area of southeastern Guinea was once home to thousands of bats routinely hunted and killed by the neighborhood children. It was also a popular spot to play. A year ago, one child in particular lived within fifty meters of the tree: a two-year-old boy who died in December 2013 and later was identified as the first person in west Africa known to have developed Ebola.

TeachUNICEF is a portfolio of free global education resources. Resources cover grades PK-12, are interdisciplinary (social studies, science, math, English/language arts, foreign/world languages), and align with standards. The lesson plans, stories, and multimedia cover topics ranging from the Millennium Development Goals to Water and Sanitation. Our mission is to support and create well-informed global citizens who understand interconnectedness, respect and value diversity, have the ability to challenge injustice and inequities and take action in personally meaningful ways. We hope that in providing engaging and academically rich materials that offer multiple voices, we can encourage the exploration of critical global issues while presenting opportunities to take action.

Fascinating narrative science that explores the next frontier in medicine and genetics through the very personal prism of the children and families gene therapy has touched. Eight-year-old Corey Haas was nearly blind from a hereditary disorder when his sight was restored through a delicate procedure that made medical history.  Like something from a science fiction novel, doctors carefully introduced viruses bearing healing genes into Corey's eyes-a few days later, Corey could see, his sight restored by gene therapy.

For at least 10,000 years, humans have been cultivating plants and selectively breeding them for fast growth, pest resistance, long-term survival in storage, and bigger and better fruit. We've been domesticating animals for just as long, selecting for traits that suited our needs, such as size, appearance, or even personality. For a few decades, we've also had genetic engineering methods for getting the characteristics we want in plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Published on Feb 19, 2015 View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-does-t... Beneath your ribs, you'll find, among other things, the pancreas -- an organ that works a lot like a personal health coach. Emma Bryce explains how this organ controls your sugar levels and produces a special juice that releases the nutrients from your food to help keep you in the best possible shape. Lesson by Emma Bryce, animation by Tremendousness.