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.
Women who use certain types of hormones after menopause still have an increased risk of developing breast cancer nearly two decades after they stop taking the pills, long-term results from a big federal study suggest.
In this activity, students build a paper model of DNA and use their model to explore key structural features of the DNA double helix. This activity can be used to complement the short film The Double Helix.
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.
A lab at the American Museum of Natural History is uncovering the genes behind each type of spider silk to create a sort of “silk library.” It’s part of an effort to learn how spiders make so many kinds of silk and what allows each kind to behave differently.
This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that investigated physiological and genetic adaptations in the Bajau, a group of people who traditionally do freediving.
This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that investigated genetic factors contributing to skin color differences, particularly within African populations.
This activity explores images of animals with a mutation that affects coloration, which serve as phenomena for learning about skin color genetics and evolution.
They were born without a working germ-fighting system, every infection a threat to their lives. Now eight babies with “bubble boy disease” have had it fixed by a gene therapy made from one of the immune system’s worst enemies — HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
