Classroom Resources

In this inquiry-based activity, students engage in science practices to figure out why some people with a genetic condition that usually leads to sickle cell disease do not have disease symptoms.
 

This video case study explores the approaches scientists used to identify a mutation that causes retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive disease that leads to blindness.

This activity builds on information presented in the short film Genes as Medicine. Students interpret actual pedigrees to determine the inheritance pattern of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited form of blindness. They also examine protein sequence data to explore mutations that can cause LCA.

This animation shows how mutations in an ion channel protein lead to the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. The animation also discusses how research on this protein has been used to develop treatments for the disease.

This interactive module explores how CRISPR-Cas9 technology works and the many ways in which scientists are using it in their research.

In this hands-on activity, students review the steps of eukaryotic gene expression and learn how this knowledge can be used to treat different genetic conditions. The activity reinforces concepts covered in the Click & Learn “Central Dogma and Genetic Medicine.”

This activity explores the content and research presented in the short film Genes as Medicine, which tells the story of how scientists succeeded in developing a gene therapy for a type of congenital blindness.

This video describes the case of a patient with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive disease that leads to blindness, and how physician-scientist Dr. Ed Stone approached the search for the causal mutation.

This film describes the scientific principles and the research efforts involved in the development of a gene therapy for a congenital form of blindness, and how a young patient benefited from this medical breakthrough.

This interactive module uses the central dogma as a model for exploring how modern molecular biology technologies can be used to treat different genetic conditions.

This tutorial describes the structure and function of the cancer-causing protein BCR-ABL. It also shows how drugs targeting this protein can help treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the white blood cells.

This animation shows how the cancer treatment Gleevec inhibits the cancer-causing protein BCR-ABL.