In this course we will explore the mysteries of heredity. Heredity is a subject everyone knows a little bit about. If your dog lays an egg or your dog gives birth to a donkey, you'll probably pass out. You may look a lot like one of your parents. You definitely inherited your parents' characteristics. Even when these are not so obvious, you still notice some giveaway traits of your ancestry. In cases of doubted parentage, blood tests, or more accurately, DNA testings are conducted. What may not be obvious at first becomes established as a 99.999 likelihood of parentage, and we might as well accept this as a probability of 100% or 1, which is a certainty.
You will also see how the science of heredity has developed to its present state over the years, and the role that different individuals have played in its development. Moreover, you will see why some tall parents may have short offspring, and vice versa. If both parents have the same eye color, how can they have children whose eye colors are different? Why do some diseases run in some families or ethnic groups? Why do offspring of the same parents have similar or different characteristics? Why are some people so calm and others so aggressive? Why are some people born with certain inherent genetic disorders? As we go through this adventure into human inheritance, we will also draw examples from other organisms, including plants, animals, and even bacteria. We also want to explore the nature of the genetic material. So many varieties of dogs--what's their origin? These and other questions will lead you to get into the "roots of the matter."
What is DNA fingerprinting and how is it used to either conclusively convict criminals or free innocent people who had been wrongly convicted? DNA, the molecule of heredity is quite a marvel! When you have studied this molecule, you will see how similar or different it could be from one type of living form to the other. You probably know that pieces of DNA could be cut from human genome and inserted into that of a bacterium. Genetic Engineering! How this process is carried out in the lab and why anyone would want to do it is one of the issues we are going to address during this course.
Not only will you be able to appreciate the diversity of life forms you encounter everyday, but you will also be able to appreciate the underlying causes of their structure and behavior. You will understand why people behave differently, even if they were raised under the same set of conditions. You will be able to understand and respect differences among humans, and among other living forms.
UW Colleges Catalog Course Description for BIO 160: Heredity - 3 credits. Principles of heredity with applications to plant, animal and human inheritance; current advances in genetics and their bearing on the life sciences. This course fulfills the UWC requirement for Natural Sciences (NS).
This course will examine various aspects of Human Heredity, including the fundamental basis of heredity, such as the structure of DNA and how the pieces of information on it are translated into traits. Also, students will look at the factors which influence the way traits are inherited and expressed. Students will examine mutation of the genetic molecule, diseases, and how genes behave in a population.
Successful completion of this course will enhance the student's ability to:
Projects may include some amount of "fieldwork" by students, to gather and analyze simple data on genetic issues.
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Toye Ekunsamni
Dubear Kroening
Kristine Prahl
Teresa Weglarz