Life Science

Genetics

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NOVA

RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
Bt Corn This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" looks at corn that has been genetically modified to resist one insect pest, and the multiple concerns it raises.	9-12	Video
Build a Family Tree Both sexes can use this interactive feature that lets you use DNA information from the Y chromosome to complete a male family tree. From the NOVA: "Lost Tribes of Israel" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
Can We Slow Aging? In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists discuss a family of genes called FOXO that can significantly extend life span in worms—and in humans.	9-12	Video
Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" explains that genetic engineering and classical breeding both alter the genetic makeup of crop plants.	9-12	Video
The Costs and Benefits of Treating Gene Defects In this video excerpt from NOVA, find out how whole genome sequencing saved the life of Alexis, a fraternal twin who was originally diagnosed with cerebral palsy but, in fact, had an even rarer genetic condition.	9-12	Video
Create a DNA Fingerprint Learn DNA profiling, the technique police use to catch the guilty and free the innocent. From NOVA: "The Killer's Trail" Web site.	6-12	Interactive
Deadly Letters: The Anthrax Mystery In this media rich lesson plan from NOVA scienceNOW, student teams investigate a fictional anthrax case by modeling DNA sequencing and tracking down the guilty lab.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation You're the geneticist now. In this interactive feature from the NOVA/FRONTLINE "Harvest of Fear" Web site, use the latest in genetic technology to engineer your own "supercrop" of tomatoes.	9-12	Interactive
The Ethical Considerations of Personal Genomics In this media-rich lesson, students explore some of the ethical, legal, and social issues related to personal genetic testing and genome sequencing.	9-12	Lesson Plan
The Ethics of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis In this video excerpt from NOVA, learn about the advantages, disadvantages, and ethical implications of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, a technique used to screen embryos created through in vitro fertilization for diseases.	9-12	Video
Explore a Stretch of Code Try your hand at reading a segment of genetic code in this interactive feature from the NOVA "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
Extracting Mummy DNA This video segment adapted from NOVA explains how a DNA sample is taken from a 5,000-year-old mummy and what we can learn from it.	6-12	Video
A Family Disease This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explores the implications of genetic testing for breast cancer.	9-12	Video
Finding Cures Is Hard This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explains the difficulty of curing genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.	9-12	Video
Finding Disease Genes This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explains the process of finding genes that cause disease.	9-12	Video
Forensic DNA Analysis This video segment from NOVA: "The Killer's Trail" investigates the potential for DNA evidence to solve murder cases, even those from the distant past.	9-12	Video
Forensics Find out how DNA profilers analyze bits of tissue to identify human remains. From NOVA: "Lost on Everest" Web site.	9-12	Document
From the Cystic Fibrosis Gene to a Drug In this video excerpt from NOVA, find out how the discovery of a gene defect has led to the development of a new drug to treat patients with cystic fibrosis.	9-12	Video
Geneticist Pardis Sabeti In this video profile adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about geneticist and rock musician Pardis Sabeti, whose innovative insights into natural selection demonstrated how beneficial mutations spread quickly through a population.	6-12	Video
Genetic Modification This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" looks at the potential created by understanding the human genome.	9-12	Video
Genetics Case Studies Wrestle with ethical issues concerning genetic rights and practices from the NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.	9-12	Document
Genetic Variation This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explores the genetic similarities and differences among organisms.	9-12	Video
Genome Facts This list from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site provides some of the basic, yet impressive, facts and figures about the Human Genome Project.	9-12	Document
Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Browse through a table full of genetically modified (GM) foods to see what's available now and what's to come. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
HIV Immunity Although repeatedly exposed to HIV, Steve Crohn's blood cells were never infected. Dr. David Ho investigates in this video segment from NOVA: "Surviving AIDS."	9-12	Video
How Cancer Cells Grow and Divide This animation from NOVA: "Battle in the War on Cancer: Breast Cancer" describes how oncogenes cause cancer and how cancerous cells can spread throughout the body.	6-12	Video
How Cancer Grows Follow the growth of a carcinoma from initial mutation to widespread metastasis in this feature from the NOVA: "Cancer Warrior" Web site.	6-12	Interactive
How Cells Divide: Mitosis vs. Meiosis How exactly does meiosis mix and halve chromosomes? Find out through this feature from NOVA: "18 Ways to Make a Baby," which provides a step-by-step, side-by-side comparison of meiosis and mitosis.	6-12	Interactive
Human Chromosome 2 In this video segment adapted from NOVA: "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," learn how modern genetics and molecular biology offer compelling support for evolution. The video features an interview with biologist Ken Miller.	6-12	Video
Human Genome Project This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" looks at the meaning and significance of the effort to decode the human genome.	6-12	Video
Journey into DNA Travel deep into the human body to see exactly where your DNA resides. From the NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.	6-12	Interactive
Marathon Mouse In this lesson from NOVA scienceNOW, students explore how our bodies respond to exercise at the cellular level.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Migration of the Monarch This video segment from NOVA: "The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders" explores the migratorial exploits of monarch butterflies.	3-8	Video
Nature vs. Nurture Revisited Which dictates our existence -- our genetic makeup or the environment we grow up in? Kevin Davies offers an update on this long-standing debate, from the NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.	9-12	Document
One Wrong Letter This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" describes the genetics of Tay-Sachs disease.	6-12	Video
On Human Cloning Three cloning experts share their opinions in these interviews from the NOVA "18 Ways to Make a Baby." Web site.	9-12	Document
Picky Eaters In this lesson from NOVA scienceNOW, students take a taste test as they explore the role of genetics in our sense of taste.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis This video segment from NOVA: "18 Ways to Make a Baby" describes a technique used to determine the health of a developing embryo.	9-12	Video
The Process of Scientific Experimentation Students expand their understanding of the "scientific method" of experimentation by watching video accounts of actual scientific research and exploring the factors involved in real scientific processes.	9-12	Lesson Plan
The Promise and Perils of Genetic Technologies In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students explore some of the technologies designed to detect and treat inherited diseases and the ethical debate surrounding them.	9-12	Self-paced Lesson
The Reproductive Role of Flowers In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the critical role of flowers in seed plant reproductive biology.	6-12	Video
Risky Genetics In this lesson from NOVA scienceNOW, students explore genetic testing for specific diseases, and consider the pros and cons of discovering a person's genotype for a particular disease.	9-12	Lesson Plan
RNAi Discovered In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn how RNAi, a mechanism that has evolved in cells to prevent viral infection, was discovered and how it works.	9-12	Video
RNAi Therapy In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about RNAi's potential to treat a wide range of genetic and infectious diseases.	9-12	Video
The Role of Genetics in Obesity In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, meet researchers who are studying obesity and trying to understand the role that hormones and genetics can play in regulating appetite.	6-12	Video
Scent of an Alewife This video segment from NOVA: "Sea Behind the Dunes" tracks the return of spawning alewife fish from the open ocean back to the freshwater streams and ponds where they were born.	3-8	Video
Seeing Through Camouflage This interactive feature from the NOVA "Leopards" Web site presents a wide variety of ways in which animals use coloration to their advantage.	6-8	Interactive
Sequence for Yourself How do researchers read the tiny As, Gs, Ts, and Cs that comprise DNA? This step-by-step explanation shows you. From NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life."	9-12	Interactive
The Sequencing Race Begins This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" looks at one of the key players in the race to decode the human genome.	9-12	Video
Should We Grow GM Crops? Learn the pros and cons of genetically modified (GM) crops, and cast your vote on whether they should be grown. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
Should We Screen for Cancer Genes? In this video excerpt from NOVA, learn about the advantages, disadvantages, and ethical implications of screening for genes associated with diseases, including those linked to breast and ovarian cancers.	9-12	Video
Stem Cell Debate This essay from the NOVA "Life's Greatest Miracle" Web site explores the debate over the use of embryonic stem cells in scientific research.	9-12	Document
Stem Cells Breakthrough In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, follow the scientific process that led to a revolutionary method for creating stem cells without the use of human embryos.	9-12	Video
Super Salmon This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" explores genetic modification of salmon and possible consequences.	9-12	Video
Switching Genes On and Off This video segment adapted from NOVA reveals how "junk" DNA helped solve an evolutionary mystery: Why do certain species of fruit flies have wing spots while others don't?	8-12	Video
T. Rex Blood? Learn about the surprising finding of preserved soft tissue in dinosaur fossils—including possible blood vessels and red blood cells—in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.	6-12	Video
Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear What do the experts say about genetically modified (GM) foods? Read these interview excerpts from the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site to find out.	9-12	Document
Who Owns the Genome? This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" examines the social and ethical implications of genome research.	9-12	Video