Sample Resources
The following are examples of the high-quality, exciting resources that are a part of Seminars on Science. Most of them, from essays to videos, have been written and produced specifically for this course. All students receive a copy of their course resources on CD-ROM for use not only during the course itself, but also as a classroom resource.
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Sample Essay - Week 2: Nature v. Nurture
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While it is commonly accepted that the battle of "nature vs. nurture" is a misleading one since both contribute to an individual's personal characteristics, there are still a number of scientists—geneticists, psychologists, and others—trying to unlock the mystery of which has a greater influence over human development. Is it our genes? Or our upbringing? One of the only sources of data for these complex comparisons is twin studies.
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Sample Video - Week 3: Polymerase Chain Reaction (1:11)
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Here, a scientist working in a modern DNA lab uses some advanced technological equipment to duplicate DNA from a template DNA base. This process of polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is vital to researchers studying the human genome.
Watch the video... |
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Sample Interactive - Week 4: PCR Simulation
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The unique feature of polymerase chain reaction is that once you have copied some DNA, you can repeat the process and copy the copies. To do this, you simply heat and cool the solution, over and over. Each time you run the cycle, you double the product. Thirty cycles yield a billion copies of the original DNA strand, in only two and a half hours. This simulation visually demonstrates how the process works, and why each component and step in the process is important.
Explore the interactive... |
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