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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.

Interactive animation for transcription and translation

2:51 minute video about mechanics of transcription and translation 

3:32 minute video about transcription and translation of insulin

7 minute video summarizing translation, cartoon style

Generate different mutations using a model which transcribes and translates.  Clear instructions are on the website.

7 minute video; mash up of multiple cool animation videos - 0-1:20   supercoiling DNA to chromosomes 1:25- 1:40 cell division/mitosis 1:45-2:50  DNA replication  2:55-4:45   transcription  4:50-6:55  translation 7:00-7:47

Interactive requiring shockwave:  Replicate DNA, transcribe and translate a sequence of virtual DNA.  Reading and information includied.  Good webquest component.

In the February 19, 2014 issue of Science Translational Medicine (Sci Transl Med. 2014 Feb 19;6(224):224ra24), Bettegowda and colleagues in the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research center at Johns Hopkins report on an exciting approach to the detection of pancreatic cancer. Bettegowda and colleagues applied cutting edge DNA sequencing to blood samples from a large number of patients with a number of different cancers. They found that many cancers, even some small curable cancers, shed mutant DNA into the blood.

start at 4:00 human genome project translation target rare diseases with gene therapy: 1)Leber's congenital amaurosis- blindness 2) congenitaal AADC deficiency- enzyme responsible for movement 3)  Muscular Dystrophy- Pompe Disease

3minute animation

14 minute video using hot pocket analogy for the central dogma

3:30 min video emphasizing key molecules

Questions about the nature of viruses remain quite vexing. Recent studies of the giant Mimivirus illustrate this point. Its large size and correspondingly large genome test our general ideas of viruses as small, simple entities. The existence of genes associated with translation, metabolism, DNA repair, and protein folding raises questions about the evolutionary history of viruses. Further studies of this virus, and the search for other giant viruses, may shed light on these issues.

The Rare Disease Foundation is focussed on linking basic science and clinical practice to increase the efficiency of rare disease research. This model is called Translational Care. This model drives patient based, treatment focussed research projects from disease characterization to treatment with greater efficiency. By incorporating research, astute clinician observation and parental knowledge into the various stages of rare disease research we impact the speed of discovery and the way rare conditions are managed.

Dr. Carolyn Henry, a veterinary oncologist at the University of Missouri veterinary school, says that, unlike lab mice, dogs get cancer naturally, just like humans. So their cancers are more likely to behave like human cancer when treated. "It's the same disease, it really doesn't matter what the species is," Henry says. "It's the same disease if it occurs naturally. And so, answers in one species should translate to answers in other species in many cases."

More than 1,600 people worldwide have been infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, and complications from it have resulted in nearly 600 deaths. But in the three years since scientists identified the disease, they haven't been able to discover a way to treat or prevent infection. Now a team of international researchers has used genetically modified cows to create antibodies that combat the disease, which could mean that a vaccine might soon be possible. The research was published today in Science Translational Medicine.

Bipolar disorder is a common, complex genetic disorder, but the mode of transmission remains to be discovered. Many researchers assume that common genomic variants carry some risk for manifesting the disease. The research community has celebrated the first genome-wide significant associations between common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and bipolar disorder. Currently, attempts are under way to translate these findings into clinical practice, genetic counseling, and predictive testing. However, some experts remain cautious. After all, common variants explain only a very small percentage of the genetic risk, and functional consequences of the discovered SNPs are inconclusive. Furthermore, the associated SNPs are not disease specific, and the majority of individuals with a "risk" allele are healthy. On the other hand, population-based genome-wide studies in psychiatric disorders have rediscovered rare structural variants and mutations in genes, which were previously known to cause genetic syndromes and monogenic Mendelian disorders.

This directed case study examines the molecular basis of cystic fibrosis to emphasize the relationship between the genetic code stored in a DNA sequence and the encoded protein's structure and function. Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein that functions to help maintain salt and water balance along the surface of the lung and gastrointestinal tract. This case introduces students to "Maggie," who has just been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The students must identify the mutation causing Maggie's disease by transcribing and translating a portion of the wildtype and mutated CFTR gene. Students then compare the three-dimensional structures of the resulting proteins to better understand the effect a single amino acid mutation can have on the overall shape of a protein. Students also review the concepts of tonicity and osmosis to examine how the defective CFTR protein leads to an increase in the viscosity of mucus in cystic fibrosis patients. This case was developed for use in an introductory college-level biology course but could also be adapted for use in an upper-level cell or molecular biology course.