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This initial module from the GENIQUEST project introduces the dragons and the inheritance of their traits, then delves into meiosis and its relationship to inherited traits. Students examine the effects of choosing different gametes on dragon offspring, and learn about genetic recombination by creating recombination events to generate specific offspring from two given parent dragons. Students learn about inbred strains and breed an inbred strain of dragons themselves. Lastly, students investigate a mysterious new dragon trait and use the properties of linkage and inheritance to examine the trait's relationship to other, known dragon traits.

The life science/biology course is divided into 12 instructional segments grouped into four sections. In the first section, From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, students develop models of how molecules combine to build cells and organisms (IS1 [Structure and Function]; IS2 [Growth and Development of Organisms]; IS3 [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms]). In the second section, Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics, students zoom out to the macroscopic scale to show how organisms interact (IS4 [Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems]; IS5 [Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems]; IS6 [Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience]; IS7 [Social Interactions and Group Behavior]). Students return to the role that DNA plays in inheritance during the third section, Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (IS8 [Inheritance of Traits]; IS9 [Variation of Traits]). The class ends tying together interactions at all these scales by explaining evolution and natural selection in Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (IS10 [Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity]; IS11 [Natural Selection]; IS12 [Adaptation and Biodiversity]). A vignette in IS12 illustrates the level of three-dimensional understanding students are expected to exhibit as a capstone of the course.

The following sequence of activities is designed to help your students continue their investigation into how characteristics of living things are passed on from generation to generation. This time we are looking at multifactorial traits and how the genes and environment play a role in the final expression of the trait.

Genetics Drop Box curricular unit

GMOs are organisms that have had their DNA modified through genetic engineering. This is often done by taking a gene from one organism and putting it into another one to alter it in a desirable way. For example, when genetic engineers want to create a corn crop that is resistant to pests, they seek out the trait in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) soil bacteria that naturally acts as a pesticide. From there, engineers isolate the gene responsible for that trait and directly insert it into the corn's DNA. This corn is then bred with other corn until it's ready to be produced for consumption.

Evolutionary biologists have developed many techniques to analyze how male and female mating preferences have co-evolved. These studies combine animal behavior, sensory biology, phylogenetics, and neurobiology to observe the effects of male trait biases based on female receiver systems; that is, the "attractiveness" of the male trait to potential female mating partners.

One concern repeatedly raised by critics who don't want the FDA to give the transgenic fish the green light: What would happen if these fish got out of the land-based facilities where they're grown and escaped into the wild? Would genetically modified salmon push out their wild counterparts or permanently alter habitat? In a review paper published this month in the journal BioScience, scientists tackle that very question. Robert H. Devlin, a scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, led a team that reviewed more than 80 studies analyzing growth, behavior and other trait differences between genetically modified and unaltered fish. The scientists used this to predict what might happen if fish with modified traits were unleashed in nature.

Human populations have adapted to varying intensities of sunlight with varying tones of skin coloration. The balanced interplay between melanin content and UV absorption allowed populations to successfully migrate from sub-Saharan Africa by influencing levels of two key vitamins: vitamin D and folic acid. This case study explores the evolutionary advantage of different skin tones for the human race; it also emphasizes the absence of scientific evidence for the correlation of abilities, talents, and other complex traits to skin color, and exposes certain social misconceptions linking skin color to specific traits. Although the discussion of race is not always a comfortable fit for science and biology courses, this case study uses the topic as an inherently interesting and important subject for applying basic biological concepts of DNA, the central dogma, and mutations to real world questions of physical difference and skin color. This case has been used in biology courses for non-science majors but would also be appropriate for advanced high school students.

Scientists are not sure whether viruses are living or non-living. In general, scientists use a list of criteria to determine if something is alive. Let's look at some traits of living things and see if viruses also have those traits.

This directed case study was developed in order to present genomic data to students, allow them to interpret the impact of genetic variations on phenotype, and to explore precision medicine. Students are introduced to "Josie," a college sophomore who decides to have her genome sequenced after learning about genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in class. As students work  through the case, they learn about the different technologies that can be used in GWAS studies and interpret Josie's results for a subset of genetic markers that affect a range of traits from pharmacogenetics to disease risk alleles and non-pathogenic traits. Students are confronted with ethical issues such as duty to inform, actionable results, and variants of unknown significance (VUS). Students are also asked to reflect on their feelings about getting genomic testing for themselves. An optional activity for advanced students (included in the teaching notes) involves using the Gene database at NCBI to explore variants of the CYP2C9 gene. The case study is appropriate for use in undergraduate genetics or molecular biology classrooms.

University of Washington: lessons include - pasta genetics - Cells and scale -build an animal -Toothpick Fish -traits handout -sickle cell anemia -genetics of taste

SciShow explains the genetics -- and physics -- behind why blue eyes are blue, and what the future may be for the trait. Spoiler alert: Blue eyes aren't really blue! SciShow explains!

When babies are born, their eyes and hair are one color, but change within the first few years of their life! Why do hair and eye colors change? Trace explains the process of inheriting certain traits from your parents, and discusses why the colors change!

Human evolution - mutation producing common traits

3 minute video Each father and mother pass down traits to their children, who inherit combinations of their dominant or recessive alleles. But how do we know so much about genetics today? Hortensia Jiménez Díaz explains how studying pea plants revealed why you may have blue eyes.

This interrupted case is based on a genome wide association study (GWAS) that identified the genetic variation causing some inhabitants of the Solomon Islands to have blond hair. The case illustrates the connection between genotype and phenotype, and an application of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The narrative focusses on John and his new roommate, Peter, from the Solomon Islands who happens to have dark skin and blond hair. Using thought-provoking questions students learn about the genetics and the biochemistry of the hair color trait and how a single genetic variation can influence phenotype. Is migration or mutation involved?  Upon completion of the activity students will know the source of the genetic variation that causes the blond hair phenomenon in the Solomon Islands and if it has any European origins. The case was written for an upper-level genetics course, but could also be adapted for introductory biology or for a genetics course for non-majors. An optional PowerPoint presentation with clicker questions is available for download from within the Answer Key.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI-Most of us think of Europe as the ancestral home of white people. But a new study shows that pale skin, as well as other traits such as tallness and the ability to digest milk as adults, arrived in most of the continent relatively recently. The work, presented here last week at the 84th annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, offers dramatic evidence of recent evolution in Europe and shows that most modern Europeans don't look much like those of 8000 years ago.

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.

To address this issue, we have developed case studies that track the evolution of traits from their origination in DNA mutation, to the production of different proteins, to the fixation of alternate macroscopic phenotypes in reproductively isolated populations.

List of single gene traits in humans