Dnai.org offers lesson plans for teaching about DNA and genetics

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DNA Interactive

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DNA Interactive is an educational web site resource that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix structure. There are six sections to this web site: Timeline, Code, Manipulation, Genome, Applications, Implications. Each section is split into modules and has rare video interviews with scientists, 3D animations, and narrative text to present and explain DNA science. Timeline is an interactive, animated exploration of genetics and molecular biology from Gregor Mendel and early genetics to Mario Capecchi, Francis Collins and current biotechnological techniques and events. In the Timeline section, site visitors can travel through time to chart the history of DNA science. Code/Finding the Structure is the story of DNA: the discovery of its 3D structure, the double helix, by James Watson and Francis Crick and the scientific clues provided by others like Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, Erwin Chargaff and Linus Pauling. Code/Copying the Code explains how DNA works to make RNA to make protein. A number of scientists including Sydney Brenner, Matthew Meselson, and Francois Jacob worked on the Central Dogma proposed by Watson and Crick. Code/Reading the Code explains how the genetic code was broken through work done by Marshall Nirenberg, Sydney Brenner, Gobind Khorana, Paul Berg, Maxine Singer. Code/Controlling the Code explains the lac operon system first discovered by Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod, and DNA folding or DNA packaging. In the Manipulation section, visitors can discover the DNA science that transformed genetics and biology. Manipulation/Revolution tells the story of how scientists struggled to isolate and study genes, and how they learned to cut, paste, and copy DNA. This section focuses on the work of Werner Arber, Arthur Kornberg, James Watson, Paul Berg, Herbert Boyer, and Stanley Cohen. Furthermore, the Revolution module explores the controversy that surrounded the first recombinant DNA (rDNA) experiments that culminated in the Asilomar conference of 1975, including reflections by participants such as Sydney Brenner, Robert Pollack, Victor McElheny, and Alexnder Capron. Manipulation/Techniques explains methods for manipulating DNA including cutting and pasting, transferring and storing, large-scale analysis, sorting and sequencing, amplifying DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method developed by Kary Mullis, and model organisms. The Manipulation/Production module explains how recombinant DNA technology was used to make insulin, and highlights the work of Herbert Boyer, David Goeddel, and Walter Gilbert. Genome offers an exploration of “the book of life” and the information contained within. Genome/Tour features both an overview and a close-up of a chromosome, and covers the technique of fluorescence in situ hybridization that highlights chromosomal structures such as centromeres and telomeres. Genome/Project is the story of the Human Genome Project, the international effort to map and sequence all human genes, and features interviews with Robert Sinsheimer, Eric Lander, James Watson, Francis Collins, David Botstein, Jim Kent, John Sulston, J. Craig Venter, and President William Clinton. Genome/Genome mining presents an introduction to the burgeoning field of bioinformatics that integrated biology and computer science. This module features Gene Boy, a unique educational tool to analyze DNA sequences. Applications is an investigation into the many uses of DNA science. Applications/Human Identification focuses on the technique of DNA fingerprinting developed by Alec Jeffreys and how it is used in forensic analysis. This module explores how DNA fingerprinting has been used to prove kinship, guilt, and innocence, and features an in-depth look at the case of Marvin Anderson, a wrongly-imprisoned man who was freed based on DNA analysis conducted by the Innocence Project. Applications/Recovering the Romanovs focuses on the mystery of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Princess Anastasia, and how mitochondrial DNA evidence analyzed by Michael Baden and Syd Mandelbaum proved her true identity. Applications/Genes and Medicine centers on the promise of the Gene Age to improve the diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases such as cancer. This section covers the race to find and clone the cancer-associated gene BRCA1; the development and impact of tests to detect mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2; the new era of DNA exploration made possible by DNA microarray and GeneChip® technology; the design of the drug Gleevec™ to control chronic myeloid leukemia; and the gene targeting techniques that give rise to the possibility of directly correcting genetic defects. Genes and Medicine features interviews with Mary-Claire King, Mark Skolnick, Barbara Weber, Pat Brown, Stephen Fodor, David Botstein, Brian Druker, and Mario Capecchi.