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Molecular biology is distinct from biological chemistry and biochemistry in that it focuses on the structure and function of macromolecules in the context of genes, gene replication, the control of gene expression, and so the control of cellular and organismal development. Therefore, it largely involves the study of DNA and RNA. It also involves the study of proteins to the extent they are involved in binding to, processing, or modulating the expression of DNA and RNA.
In order to understand how and why we use DNA to track the replacement of one mussel species by another in the course of the biological invasion taking place along California, MBB presents a crash course in molecular biology in the form of six classroom sessions and some optional materials that are outlined below.
Although the outline below indicates the material that should be understood by teachers using this MBB program, these resources could also be used to supplement grade-level materials in the high school biology classroom, or as review materials for AP Biology. For example, a teacher could discuss the powerpoints from Sessions #3 & #4 and then assign the Are Whales Hippos? investigation from Session #6.
Session #1 - Review of DNA Structure and Replication |
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| Title | File Type |
| DNA Structure and Replication is a presentation reviewing central concepts. | PowerPoint |
| DNA Structure Review is an animation reviewing nucleic acid structure. | Flash |
| The Cell Cycle is an animation with audio narrative reviewing phases in the reproduction of cells, including DNA replication and mitosis... concepts important to the biotechnology portion of this program. | Flash |
| DNA Replication is an animation with audio narrative modeling DNA synthesis and illustrating the generation of a complementary DNA sequence from the template strand... concepts important to understanding primer design and the polymerase chain reaction. | Flash |
MBB Homework #1 is a review of DNA Structure and Replication that reinforces concepts using the animations above. |
Word |
| MBB Homework #1 Answer Key provides solutions. | Word |
Session #2 - Transcription, Genetic Code, Translation |
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| Title | File Type |
| Transcription, the Genetic Code, and Translation is a presentation on the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology prepared for use during Adobe Elluminate distance learning sessions. | PowerPoint |
| Transcription is an animation with audio narrative that illustrates the structure of a typical gene, including the promoter region, and models the synthesis of mRNA from DNA. | Flash |
Session #3 - DNA and Protein Sequences |
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| Title | File Type |
| DNA and Protein Sequences is a presentation providing the background on Cytochrome c and its DNA and protein sequences needed to understand the homework assignment. | PowerPoint |
| Translation is an animation with audio narrative that reviews the Central Dogma with an emphasis on protein synthesis. | Flash |
Session #4 - Mutation, Sequence Variation, Sequence Alignment and Natural Selection |
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| Title | File Type |
| The presentation Mutation, Sequence Variation, Sequence Alignment, and Natural Selection expands on the background review needed for an overall understanding of the project. | PowerPoint |
DNA Mutation is an animation with audio narrative illustrating the consequences at the sequence level of a point mutation versus a frameshift mutation. |
YouTube |
| MBB Homework #2 reinforces the skill of sequence alignment and the concepts of transcription, translation, and mutation (sessions #2-4). | Word |
| MBB Homework #2 Answer Key provides solutions to the eight page Homework Assignment above. | Word |
Session #5 - PCR and Primer Choice |
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| Title | File Type |
| Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Primer Choice is a presentation that provides a series of slides defining PCR, how it works, and why we use it in this project to distinguish between invasive mussels and their native look-alikes. | PowerPoint |
| The Polymerase Chain Reaction is an animation that provides a detailed look at the mechanics of increasing the copies of a specific segment of DNA in a test tube. | Flash |
Session #6 - DNA Sequencing and DNA Sequencing Data |
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| Title | File Type |
| DNA Sequencing and Using DNA Sequences is a presentation describing how we chemically obtain the sequence of A's, G's, C's, and T's used in DNA analyses, and examples of some of the questions that can be answered using this data. |
PowerPoint |
| MBB Homework #3 is Part I of the homework we assigned to the participating teachers to reinforce the material presented in sessions #5 & #6. |
Word |
| Are Whales Hippos? is Part II of the homework we assigned to participating teachers to support sessions #5 & #6. | HTML |
The "Are Whales Hippos?" assignment uses this website, a Kyoto University web interface to the ClustalW multiple sequence alignment tool and postscript tree generator. |
Website |
Optional Material |
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| Title | File Type |
| Mitochondrial Inheritance is a presentation describing how mitochondrial genes are passed down through the generations differently than nuclear genes. | PowerPoint |
| Mitochondria Review is a series of slides listing some of the many roles of mitochondria and reviewing key aspects of their function. | PowerPoint |
Cn3D is protein structure display software provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
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