• GENETICS LINKS •
(A smattering of genetics-related links. '23-'24 is my first year teaching the class, thus the slim pickings at the moment!)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
•••HUMAN GENOME, VISIBLE ONLINE (Lots of genomes visible online!) •••
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/genome/guide/human/index.shtml
I'll be honest, using this—or at least understanding what I'm seeing WHEN I use it—is way, WAY over my head. One day I'll get a handle on it though...
And there are, available to view, FAR more sequenced genomes beyond just Homos sapiens! Viruses, house flies, bony fishes, flowering plants, Neandertals, etc., etc!
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Computer Animations of DNA replication, and CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE, SPOOLED AROUND ZILLIONS OF HISTONE PROTEINS. (Seriously my newest favorite video!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFCvkkDSfIU
(For fun: compare THAT OLD 2012 video with THIS OLDER 2006 video, The Inner Life Of The Cell, which LOTS of bio teachers have shown to their students, very often without knowing exactly what was happening! Here's the same Inner Life video with an expert narrator explaining EVERYTHING!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
DNA animation (wait for it) WITH SOUND!! (The sound is imagined, but still...amazing effect!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hk9jct2ozY
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
An updated version of the Inner Life of a Cell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHeTQLNFTgU
(Here's the original which I'm SURE you've seen in SOME bio class at sometime in your life!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
One Of Those Cool WIRED Videos: Professional Geneticist!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3T_IaIGQxo
Things I learned.
1. All blue-eye people have a DISTANT common ancestor who lived about 10,000 years ago.
2. About EIGHT genes control eye color! (I mean, I knew eye-color was polygenetic, but OCTOGENETIC?? LOL!)
....and I'm not even 10% through this video yet! STAY TUNED!
EXPLICATIONS:
1. All blue-eye people have a DISTANT common ancestor who lived about 10,000 years ago. ("But...Really? We can't all be that closely related!" YOU'RE NOT. Do you know how many generations we're talking about here? In most cultures today a woman getting pregnant at 19 or 20 is perfectly normal, but ancient cultures were often only governed by biology so women got pregnant FAR younger. So let's say 6 generations per century. 10,000 years is 100 centuries so 600 generations. NOW THE MATH: Your number of grandparents is 2^2, [I can't do exponents here, grrr...] or two squared (two generations) so you have 4 grands. Your great-grands are 2^3 (two to the 3rd = 8 great-grands), you have 16 great-great-grands (2^4) YOU SEE THE PATTERN. So what is two to the 600th (2^600) ?? I don't know, but 2^275 gives an 82 digit number that is approx. the number of ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE.
So what's going on? Certainly I had SOME ancestors 10,000 years (600 generations) ago, right? WE ALL MUST HAVE! So what's with the impossible math? 2^33 gives us 8.5 billion, but your ancestors are NOT all the people alive today! Your ancestor lived in a time when there were FAR FEWER people on earth, so THAT constrains us even more!! The point all this impossibility is driving at is this: you don't have to go too far back to find folks on your mom's side who ALSO were on your dad's side! In fact, just a few dozen generations—probably far fewer, in fact—and the ENTIRE CONCEPT of "mom's side" and "dad's side" is effectively meaningless. Think of it as very very VERY DISTANT cousins marrying, and that's genetically no trouble at all.* (Truth to tell, some jurisdictions in the US and abroad are OK with 2nd cousins marrying, and many are even OK with the math behind 1st cousins marrying!**)
To circle back to the first question about blue-eyed folks, a mutation back when there were only a few tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of humans on earth...it only makes SENSE that it would be prevalent in subsequent generations today. And consider this: having blue eyes is not only not harmful, but I'm told that many people find blue eyes attractive! ;-) Seriously though, if you consider it from THAT perspective it would only follow that the gene would spread like wildfire through subsequent generations!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Aside from the societal taboos and the straight-up gross-out factor, HERE IS WHY CLOSE RELATIVES SHOULDN'T MARRY: If a screwed up version of a gene (an allele that causes a terrible disease, lets say) runs in your family, the odds are never 100% but NEARLY 100% that ANY non-relative will have a healthy version (allele) which will dominate (mask/suppress) your family's busted and dangerous version!! And your genome does the same for THEIR family's glitches! (Read some medical history about the upper-crusty aristocratic royals who ONLY married other Royals: it's a genetic TRAIN WRECK.)
**Those "Near 100%" chances move steadily down from 100 the closer the relatives that marry, but mathematically 2nd cousin marriage is OK, and even 1st cousin marriage isn't *too* risky, thus the rather surprising number of states that sanction it.
(The real genetic no-no of course is—brace yourself because houses of royalty did this WAY more than you'd think—sibling marriage and—even more horrifying--parent-child couplings. Yeah you want to see the nastiest picture in a text book full of disturbing images of genetic defects? LOOK AT CLEOPATRA'S PEDIGREE AT THE TOP LEFT CORNER OF PAGE 82. Yeah, drink THAT in. Generation III: 1st cousins marrying. Bad enough. They had two kids, a boy & a girl WHO THEMSELVES HAD KIDS...WITH EACH OTHER.) ::::Full. Body. Shuddddddder.:::::
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
What is CRISPR? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnYppmstxIs
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Understanding CRISPR -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLMo6DYdJRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANehpGhbuF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YKFw2KZA5o
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR - SIMPLE EXPLANATION (Amoeba Sisters!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5jmdh9AnS4
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR - CLINICAL EXPLANATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKeMiAZ8Zu4
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
TERMINOLOGY EXPLAINED: 5’ & 3’ ends of polymer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p835L4HWH68
These I duplicated from the Anatomy Links page for obvious reasons (head over there! There is a LOT of stuff over there that genetics students might find interesting!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – --
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS: TRANSCRIPTION & TRANSLATION ILLUSTRATED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG7uCskUOrA
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – --
• Dr Darrick Antell's award winning photos of 60 year old identical twins, one who was a sun-bather in her youth, and the other who was not. Click left and right on the slide show after following the link: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Greenwich-surgeon-s-work-lands-him-in-the-5801687.php#photo-6922591
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – —
• HUMAN WITH TAILS? We had a classroom discussion about vestigial structures and I'd recalled reading that something like 1 in 500,000 babies were born with nub-like tail structures that had to be removed surgically immediately after birth, though rarely involving complications. Turns out I misremembered, and pretty badly in fact. A person being born with vestigial tail is a SURPASSINGLY RARE EVENT, such that only 30-40 cases appear in medical literature, and usually it's associated with Spina Bifida (a birth defect wherein part of the spinal cord is exposed through--hence unprotected by, and even damaged by--the vertebral column.).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263034/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6373560
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Everything you wanted to know about everyone's favorite 17 letter word: NEUROTRANSMITTERS!
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22513-neurotransmitters
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• Huge list of medical mnemonics! (No kidding, this is one of my favorite pages in all of Wikipedia!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_mnemonics
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• Palmeris longus tendon...DO YOU HAVE ONE? It's a vestigial structure in the human body, and chances are you have one. (Only 14% of humans don't, myself among them!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=genetic-diseases-quiz - Genetics disease quiz
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• https://www.23andme.com/ - Find info about your genetic history.
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
(A smattering of genetics-related links. '23-'24 is my first year teaching the class, thus the slim pickings at the moment!)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
•••HUMAN GENOME, VISIBLE ONLINE (Lots of genomes visible online!) •••
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/genome/guide/human/index.shtml
I'll be honest, using this—or at least understanding what I'm seeing WHEN I use it—is way, WAY over my head. One day I'll get a handle on it though...
And there are, available to view, FAR more sequenced genomes beyond just Homos sapiens! Viruses, house flies, bony fishes, flowering plants, Neandertals, etc., etc!
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Computer Animations of DNA replication, and CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE, SPOOLED AROUND ZILLIONS OF HISTONE PROTEINS. (Seriously my newest favorite video!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFCvkkDSfIU
(For fun: compare THAT OLD 2012 video with THIS OLDER 2006 video, The Inner Life Of The Cell, which LOTS of bio teachers have shown to their students, very often without knowing exactly what was happening! Here's the same Inner Life video with an expert narrator explaining EVERYTHING!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
DNA animation (wait for it) WITH SOUND!! (The sound is imagined, but still...amazing effect!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hk9jct2ozY
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
An updated version of the Inner Life of a Cell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHeTQLNFTgU
(Here's the original which I'm SURE you've seen in SOME bio class at sometime in your life!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
One Of Those Cool WIRED Videos: Professional Geneticist!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3T_IaIGQxo
Things I learned.
1. All blue-eye people have a DISTANT common ancestor who lived about 10,000 years ago.
2. About EIGHT genes control eye color! (I mean, I knew eye-color was polygenetic, but OCTOGENETIC?? LOL!)
....and I'm not even 10% through this video yet! STAY TUNED!
EXPLICATIONS:
1. All blue-eye people have a DISTANT common ancestor who lived about 10,000 years ago. ("But...Really? We can't all be that closely related!" YOU'RE NOT. Do you know how many generations we're talking about here? In most cultures today a woman getting pregnant at 19 or 20 is perfectly normal, but ancient cultures were often only governed by biology so women got pregnant FAR younger. So let's say 6 generations per century. 10,000 years is 100 centuries so 600 generations. NOW THE MATH: Your number of grandparents is 2^2, [I can't do exponents here, grrr...] or two squared (two generations) so you have 4 grands. Your great-grands are 2^3 (two to the 3rd = 8 great-grands), you have 16 great-great-grands (2^4) YOU SEE THE PATTERN. So what is two to the 600th (2^600) ?? I don't know, but 2^275 gives an 82 digit number that is approx. the number of ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE.
So what's going on? Certainly I had SOME ancestors 10,000 years (600 generations) ago, right? WE ALL MUST HAVE! So what's with the impossible math? 2^33 gives us 8.5 billion, but your ancestors are NOT all the people alive today! Your ancestor lived in a time when there were FAR FEWER people on earth, so THAT constrains us even more!! The point all this impossibility is driving at is this: you don't have to go too far back to find folks on your mom's side who ALSO were on your dad's side! In fact, just a few dozen generations—probably far fewer, in fact—and the ENTIRE CONCEPT of "mom's side" and "dad's side" is effectively meaningless. Think of it as very very VERY DISTANT cousins marrying, and that's genetically no trouble at all.* (Truth to tell, some jurisdictions in the US and abroad are OK with 2nd cousins marrying, and many are even OK with the math behind 1st cousins marrying!**)
To circle back to the first question about blue-eyed folks, a mutation back when there were only a few tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of humans on earth...it only makes SENSE that it would be prevalent in subsequent generations today. And consider this: having blue eyes is not only not harmful, but I'm told that many people find blue eyes attractive! ;-) Seriously though, if you consider it from THAT perspective it would only follow that the gene would spread like wildfire through subsequent generations!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Aside from the societal taboos and the straight-up gross-out factor, HERE IS WHY CLOSE RELATIVES SHOULDN'T MARRY: If a screwed up version of a gene (an allele that causes a terrible disease, lets say) runs in your family, the odds are never 100% but NEARLY 100% that ANY non-relative will have a healthy version (allele) which will dominate (mask/suppress) your family's busted and dangerous version!! And your genome does the same for THEIR family's glitches! (Read some medical history about the upper-crusty aristocratic royals who ONLY married other Royals: it's a genetic TRAIN WRECK.)
**Those "Near 100%" chances move steadily down from 100 the closer the relatives that marry, but mathematically 2nd cousin marriage is OK, and even 1st cousin marriage isn't *too* risky, thus the rather surprising number of states that sanction it.
(The real genetic no-no of course is—brace yourself because houses of royalty did this WAY more than you'd think—sibling marriage and—even more horrifying--parent-child couplings. Yeah you want to see the nastiest picture in a text book full of disturbing images of genetic defects? LOOK AT CLEOPATRA'S PEDIGREE AT THE TOP LEFT CORNER OF PAGE 82. Yeah, drink THAT in. Generation III: 1st cousins marrying. Bad enough. They had two kids, a boy & a girl WHO THEMSELVES HAD KIDS...WITH EACH OTHER.) ::::Full. Body. Shuddddddder.:::::
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
What is CRISPR? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnYppmstxIs
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Understanding CRISPR -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLMo6DYdJRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANehpGhbuF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YKFw2KZA5o
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR - SIMPLE EXPLANATION (Amoeba Sisters!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5jmdh9AnS4
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR - CLINICAL EXPLANATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKeMiAZ8Zu4
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
TERMINOLOGY EXPLAINED: 5’ & 3’ ends of polymer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p835L4HWH68
These I duplicated from the Anatomy Links page for obvious reasons (head over there! There is a LOT of stuff over there that genetics students might find interesting!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – --
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS: TRANSCRIPTION & TRANSLATION ILLUSTRATED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG7uCskUOrA
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – --
• Dr Darrick Antell's award winning photos of 60 year old identical twins, one who was a sun-bather in her youth, and the other who was not. Click left and right on the slide show after following the link: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Greenwich-surgeon-s-work-lands-him-in-the-5801687.php#photo-6922591
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – —
• HUMAN WITH TAILS? We had a classroom discussion about vestigial structures and I'd recalled reading that something like 1 in 500,000 babies were born with nub-like tail structures that had to be removed surgically immediately after birth, though rarely involving complications. Turns out I misremembered, and pretty badly in fact. A person being born with vestigial tail is a SURPASSINGLY RARE EVENT, such that only 30-40 cases appear in medical literature, and usually it's associated with Spina Bifida (a birth defect wherein part of the spinal cord is exposed through--hence unprotected by, and even damaged by--the vertebral column.).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263034/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6373560
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
Everything you wanted to know about everyone's favorite 17 letter word: NEUROTRANSMITTERS!
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22513-neurotransmitters
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• Huge list of medical mnemonics! (No kidding, this is one of my favorite pages in all of Wikipedia!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_mnemonics
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• Palmeris longus tendon...DO YOU HAVE ONE? It's a vestigial structure in the human body, and chances are you have one. (Only 14% of humans don't, myself among them!)
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=genetic-diseases-quiz - Genetics disease quiz
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -
• https://www.23andme.com/ - Find info about your genetic history.
- – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — - – — -