The Nature Education website, Scitable, is a great study resource for students who want to learn more about, or are having difficulty understanding, transcription and translation. The University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center: Transcribe and Translate a Gene Scitable The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's DNA interactive: (DNAi): Code The DNA Learning Center's (DNALC): 3-D Animation Library Particularly useful to students are the interactive animations from the University of Utah that allow one to, for example,"Transcribe/Translate a Gene"or examine the effects of gene mutation as they "Test Neurofibromin Activity in a Cell." The DNAi modules," Reading the Code" and "Copying the Code," describe the history of the process, the scientists involved in the discovery, and the basics of the process, and also include an animation and interactive game. The DNALC animations cover central dogma, transcription (basic and advanced), mRNA splicing, RNA splicing, triplet code and translation (basic and advanced). These animations are useful as a lecture supplement or for students to review on their own. The DNA Learning Center's (DNALC) website, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's DNA interactive (DNAi) website, and the University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center website listed below contain excellent narrated animations describing transcription and translation. The University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's DNA interactive (DNAi) See: Teachers' Domain: Cell Transcription and Translation The DNA Learning Center's (DNALC) Teachers' Domain is a free educational resource produced by WGBH with funding from the NSF, which houses thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons.One of these resources focuses on the topics of transcription and translation.This resource is an interactive activity that starts with a general overview of the central dogma of molecular biology, and then goes into more specific details about the processes of transcription and translation.In addition to the interactive activity, the resource also includes a background narrative and discussion questions that could be used for assessment.Although the material is designated as appropriate content for grades, 9-12, it would serve as an excellent introduction to the topic for biology majors, or would be well suited for non-biology majors at the post-secondary level. Instructions for the DNA Extraction lab can be found in the same Modern Genetics handout that is linked above or by googling.Teachers' Domain: Cell Transcription and Translation I put a few drops of blue food coloring in the alcohol to make it easier to see the DNA strands. Students then used a glass rod or plastic stirring stick to twirl the DNA – stringy white stuff that appears at the interface of the alcohol. Very cold 99% Isopropyl Alcohol was then carefully poured on top of the mixture and then placed in the freezer for a few minutes. A drop of dish soap solution (1 part dish soap:2 parts water) and a pinch of salt/meat tenderizer (1:1) were added to the DNA samples to help break down the cell membranes and free the DNA. I had students do Types of Mutations from Genetics: INB Activity Pack by Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy, where they had to describe the different types of mutations that can occur.įinally students extracted their own DNA by swishing salt water around in their mouth and then spitting in a cup, or extracted DNA from a strawberry by smashing it up in a baggy. We also used these pieces to demonstrate what happens when mutations, such as an insertion or deletion of a single base, which would cause an error not just in the codon (set of 3 bases) where the mutation takes place, but would cause a shift all the way down the strand. The puzzle pieces are included in the teacher guide and I used my iPad to color the different base pairs before printing to save the students the hassle of coloring all the pieces. This activity is D.4 Paper Proteins: Models for Simulatin Gene Expression found in Chapter 1 of Modern Genetics for All Students. I had students use their phones/iPads to take photos of each step which we then printed out and they taped them into their lab books with short descriptions of each step. The first 30 minutes of class was spent cutting out DNA, mRNA, tRNA and amino acid puzzle pieces that the students used to step through the processes of transcription (copying a segment of DNA by forming mRNA) and then translation, making a chain of amino acids by connecting the tRNA and its attached amino acid to the mRNA.
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