Biology 440 Human Genetics Webpage
Links to useful resources (keyed to Genome by Matt Ridley):
Table of Contents
Molecular and Cellular Biology
3D Graphics and Interactive Exercises
Human Evolution and the Origins of Language
Genes Involved in Conferring “Humanness”
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
Darwinian (Evolutionary) Medicine
Human Genetics and Infectious Disease
General Behavior Genetics Issues
Dopamine/Serotonin and Behavior
General Genetic Engineering Topics
Organ Donation and Xenotransplantation
Cloning and Medicine (Therapeutic Cloning)
Human Cloning and Reproduction
Human Cloning, Transgenics and Eugenics
Ethical, Legal and Social Issues
Molecular and Cellular Biology: Use these links for additional reading about basic molecular and cellular processes. Don’t be afraid to read beyond what I suggest here. Explore!
An On-Line Biology Book Especially Chapters 4, 5, 16, 18 and 19 (in 19, look at the section on Eukaryotic chromosomes).
Beginner's Guide to Molecular Biology This is a very straight forward treatment of Molecular Biology. Very useful.
Molecular Biology Contents Short and too the point. Look at Chapter 1 (sections A, C and D), Chapter 3 (sections A, B, D, E and F), Chapter 4 (sections A and B) and Chapter 5 (section C).
MIT Biology Hypertextbook Chapters Look at Large Molecules, Cell Biology and Central Dogma
Kimball's Biology Pages Written by a former Phillips Academy Biology and Chemistry Teacher, this is an online version of a standard college level introductory text. It is organized in a slightly odd way, but definitely usable. Go to the Table of Contents and click on the relevant links. Look at Cell Biology, DNA and RNA, and Molecules. Organized like a glossary with headings, this can be a very useful way to learn the definitions of terms I throw around in the classroom and also get excellent descriptions of associated molecules and processes.
While some of the above resources have associated glossaries (especially Kimball’s Biology Pages), below are a few additional ones that will be helpful in this course:
Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
BioTech's Life Science Dictionary
From the NCBI Bookshelf:
An Introduction to Genetic Analysis
3D graphics and interactive exercises
DNAi This site is fabulous, with outstanding 3D movies of transcription, translation and DNA replication. Look at the modules along the top tool bar, especially “code”. Highly recommended!
DNA From the Beginning More interactive, multimedia stuff on DNA, genetics and other molecular biology topics. Lots of good history here!
Access Excellence The National Health Museum.
Biointeractive From the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Various lectures on molecular biology, genetics, evolution and various other topics. Also interactive exercises.
Interesting articles discussing the origins of life:
Origin of Life on Earth by Leslie E. Orgel
New Frontiers: "Were Bacteria the First Forms of Life on Earth?" by Daniel Jeffares & Anthony Poole
Lectures on RNA These are HHMI lectures on RNA, RNA catalysis and origins of life. Lecture 2 includes a discussion on the origins of life. The other 3 lectures talk about the various capabilities of RNA.
Gregor Mendels original paper on pea plants This is the paper that served as the foundation for all of modern genetics.
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Understanding Heredity (c. 550 B.C. - 2001 A.D.) On overview of the development of ideas about heredity over the years.
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Journey into DNA A goofy little animation about DNA structure that takes you from the level of the organism, down through the cell, into the nucleus, into the chromosomes, through the histones to the DNA double-helix. This is an excellent demonstration of chromosome structure, although the poetry that accompanies this demo is a bit dopey.
Entrez Genome view In case you want to explore the human genome from the chromosome level all the way down to the level of DNA, here is a good way to do it. Be careful, you can get lost in here!
Dr Chromo's school: chromosomes structure A good primer on chromosome structure.
[3]_D: Chromatin Structure (from Molecular Biology) Another good source on chromosome structure. This one gets a little bit more technical!
Human Genome Landmarks This is a useful map that shows the chromosomes, their sizes and some of the disease-related and other genes that have been mapped to these chromosomes.
OMIM - Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man A page where you can find info on just about any genetic-linked heritable traits.
Human Genome Project Science Excellent site describing some of the key findings of the Human Genome Project.
How is Genome Sequencing Done? A text with illustrations description of the process of genome sequencing
What We've Learned so Far The major findings of the human genome project
The Next Step What needs to be done now to really understand the info in the genome
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life Come here to watch the rest of “Cracking the Code of Life”. I showed you segments 2, 4-5, 11 and 16.
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Sequence for Yourself the same little interactive animation exercise I showed you in class about DNA sequencing
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Journey into DNA A goofy little animation about DNA structure that takes you from the level of the organism, down through the cell, into the nucleus, into the chromosomes, through the histones to the DNA double-helix. This is an excellent demonstration of chromosome structure, although the poetry that accompanies this demo is a bit dopey.
National Human Genome Research Institute Education Kit This site includes animations about various aspects of the human genome project, including an excellent demonstration of DNA sequencing
Publication of Human Genome Draft Sequence This page includes links to major papers published about the genome in Nature and Science in 2001
A physical map of the human genome This is the original research paper published in Nature in 2001 by the International Human Genome Mapping Consortium (the public project) describing the sequencing of the human genome. This is the real deal.
Science -- Venter et al. 291 (5507): 1304 This is the original research paper published in Science in 2001 by Celera describing the sequencing of the human genome. This, too, is the real deal.
Entrez Genome view In case you want to explore the human genome from the chromosome level all the way down to the level of DNA, here is a good way to do it. Be careful, you can get lost in here!
Human Genome Browser Gateway Another way to browse the genome. From UCSC.
NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Sequence for Yourself the same little interactive animation exercise I showed you in class about DNA sequencing
National Human Genome Research Institute Education Kit This site includes animations about various aspects of the human genome project, including an excellent demonstration of DNA sequencing
DNA Sequencing From Kimball’s Biology page
Genes and Gender Webcast This site contains the very same lectures I showed you on Monday 9/30 and Tuesday 10/1. You can watch again if you feel you missed anything. You watched lectures 1 and 4. Lectures 2 and 3 are very interesting as well.
An Unfinished Story About the Genesis of Maleness An article from the HHMI bulletin about David Page’s work on the Y chromosome.
Sex Chromosomes From Kimball’s biology. A discussion of the structure and control of the Y-chromosome, the role of the X-chromosome and control of X-chromosome gene expression
Science Spectra [Article] Article about the use of the Y chromosome in anthropology and archaeology.
Y-Chromosome Links Lots of good links to articles about Y-chromosome evolution. In here is included articles on using the Y-chromosome to trace the origins of most major groups of humans on earth.
Imprinting An article from the HHMI bulletin talking some about imprinting.
HHMI News: Gene Tug-of-War Leads to Distinct Species Another article from HHMI bulletin talking specifically about the work done on mice.
Imprinted Genes A nice little section on gene imprinting from Kimball’s biology
MoSt GeNe/Genetic Drift/Nontraditional Inheritance/Uniparental Disomy and Genomic Imprinting More on imprinting…..more technical.
Becoming Human: Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins The documentary I showed in class. There are other activities and resources associated with this site as well. An excellent site!
Human evolution - A look at human origins through species profiles and hominid imagery Another excellent site
The Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution
A Look at Modern Human Origins A technical site including detailed descriptions of the various hominid fossils that have been uncovered, including photos of many specimens.
Focus on human origins A website maintained by Nature magazine focusing on human origins. Covers the recent findings of the Toumai skull. Also has lots of links to classic paleontology papers published in Nature over the years.
BBC Online - Science - Apeman - Fact Files Index A cool multimedia site on human evolution.
Human Evolution: The fossil evidence in 3D Lets you manipulate skulls in 3D. This allows you to get a really good look at them.
Human and Ape Chromosomes A discussion of evidence of human evolution from a chromosomal point of view.
Human Evolution and Language Origins
Language Evolution A short discussion on the evolution of language
Genetic Distance and Language Affinities An attempt to correlate language with the evolution and dispersal of Homo sapiens using genetic data
Genetics and Human Migration Patterns A brief summary of some of the major findings about human migration patterns.
Genes involved in conferring “humanness”
Wired News: First Language Gene Found A lay article about the gene FOXP2 which is rousing a lot of excitement in the scientific community because of it’s possible role in language development and ability.
Gene change speaks to language malady: Science News Online, Oct. 6, 2001 More on FOXP2.
'Speech Gene' Tied to Modern Humans More recent work has been done on FOXP2 comparing the human sequence to other animals (especially primates). The results are summarized here.
Specific Language Impairment A brief summary of the various hypotheses surrounding Specific Language Impairment.
Look at the online textbooks linked in the Introduction section for chapters on genetics. Also, below are a few specific links to good sites on Mendelian genetics.
Patterns of Inheritence from "An Introduction to Genetic Analysis" An excellent introduction to Mendelian Genetics. Kind of hard core, though.
Mendel monohybrid crosses The section from Kimball’s Biology on Mendel’s original experiments
Genetic Linkage and Genetic Maps The section from Kimball’s Biology on dihybrid crosses and genetic linkage
Mendelian Genetics A nice site summarizing the major points of Mendelian genetics. Click on the hyperlinks
Mendelian Genetics Chapter from the MIT hypertext book.
MendelWeb Table of Contents 97.1 MendelWeb allows you to explore Mendel as a person and scientist. Here you can read translations (or originals) of his papers and learn about his life.
Human Genetics section of “An Introduction to Genetic Analysis”
Human Genetics From the On-line Biology book.
Mutations A discussion of the role of mutation in human genetic disease from Kimball’s biology
Genes and Disease Online book covering a wide range of genetic diseases. An excellent resource.
DNA.com - Diseases & Conditions A lay discussion of human genetic diseases. This site includes such complex disorders as Alzheimer’s and Asthma.
The Doctor's Lounge: Table of Genetic Disorders List of genetic diseases organized by type (autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, chromosomal, etc)
A-Z of rare disorders Index of disorders, including genetic disorders…..brief background and lots of info on sites and organizations to contact for info.
Rare Diseases List - Office of Rare Diseases Another list of rare diseases, this one linked to PubMed and OMIM
OMIM Home Page -- Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man Come explore the chromosomal location, sequence and mutations responsible for any genetic disease you wish to investigate. Included is also a comprehensive review of the scientific literature relevant to each disease gene.
Entrez Genome view Similar to OMIM, but you can search for any gene in the human genome, or any disease associated with that gene.
GeneCards Homepage Another way to find genes that are involved in disease
GeneReviews: Diseases and Overviews This one’s really good!
Your Genes, Your Health An interactive look at a variety of genetic disorders. Excellent explanations of the molecular biology of these disorders.
WebMD - From the Cleveland Clinic: What Is Diabetes Some basic info on diabetes
WebMD - Genetics of Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) An excellent overview of the genetics of Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Hereditary Disease Foundation Testing Lots of links to articles written by Dr. Nancy Wexler describing the experience of working on and living under the specter of Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington's Disease entry on OMIM The technical details of Huntington’s Disease.
Hereditary Disease Foundation Home Page A page dedicated to Huntington’s Disease. Look here for news about Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington's Disease - Hope Through Research From the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) | MDA A comprehensive site from the Muscular Dystrophy Association
Cancer From Kimball’s Biology. An excellent overview of cancer biology.
The Eukaryotic Cell Cycle and Cancer Another overview of cancer.
Cancer A chapter on cancer from Molecular Cell Biology.
Cancer and Medicine from the American Cancer Society. Everything you could want to know about cancer (including the genetics of cancer).
The Genetics of Cancer - Introduction An excellent site. Has all sorts of stuff related to cancer, especially cancer genetics information, of course (including some interesting case studies). See below:
Topics From the Genetics of Cancer resource center. This has an overview of the biology of cancer, and detailed information about cancer genetics. Highly recommended!
The Genetics of Cancer-Topics From the Genetics of Cancer resource center. This has an overview of the biology of cancer, and detailed information about cancer genetics. Highly recommended!
Genes and Disease An online book from the NIH about the role of genes in disease. Includes a large section on the role of genes in specific cancers.
Cancer.gov - Cancer Information This is an excellent site from the National Cancer Institute. Contains general information on all aspects of cancer
Cancer.gov - Prevention, Genetics, Causes This particular site contains links to other pages within concer.gov that have specific information on the role of genetics in virtually all major types of cancer.
FGEC: Framework for Complex Disease A short overview of complex disorders….what they are and why they happen.
DNA.com - Nature and Nurture An excellent overview of the genetic vs environmental factors that lead to complex disorders
Complex neuromuscular disorders
WebMD - Genetics of Coronary Heart Disease
WebMD - DNA Sciences Genetics and Genomics A group of articles discussing the genetics of various disease, including many that could be considered complex disorders, such as coronary heart disease, asthma and alzheimer’s disease
WebMD - Genetics of Asthma Great overview of asthma genetics
Darwinian (Evolutionary) Medicine
Darwinian Evolution Across The Disciplines The location of the Randolph Nesse lecture I showed in class. Scroll down to “Darwinian Medicine: The Pleasures and Perils of New Questions”. You will need the RealPlayer plug-in to view this.
Darwinian (evolutionary) medicine A brief overview of Darwinian medicine.
Essay: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine An essay (or perhaps a book report on Why We Get Sick by Nesse, R.M. and Williams, G.C.?) about Darwinian Medicine written by a student. Actually a pretty good summary of some of the classic examples trotted out by Nesse and Williams to bolster their ideas.
The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine by GC Williams and RM Nesse (1991). An early treatise on Darwinian Medicine.
darwinianmedicine An excellent site about Darwinian Medicine, including a lot of links to articles about the topic.
Stephen Lewis - Darwinian Medicine Web Site This also has a lot of interesting articles on Darwinian Medicine. Look especially at Useful Texts.
A New Germ Theory - 99.02 An outstanding overview of Paul Ewalds ideas on the role of infectious agents in human disease from the Atlantic Magazine.
Evolution: Library: Paul Ewald: Infectious Disease and the Evolution of Virulence An interview
Human Genetics and Infectious Disease
Evolution: Human Genetics: Concepts and Application Summary of the likely role various genetic diseases played in human evolution and resistance to infectious disease
Gene Mutation Link With HIV Resistance A brief summary of the known links between HIV resistance and genetic mutations. From Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Hospital Practice: AIDS: A Role for Host Genes A great (although fairly technical) summary of HIV resistance mutations (as of 1998).
Researchers link AIDS resistance and smallpox A possible explanation for why CCR5 mutations are so common amongst people of northern European descent.
Prion Diseases A good overview of some of the main points about prion diseases.
How Now Mad Cow An outstanding summary of the history and biology of prion diseases, including kuru, BSE, scrapie and Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease.
General Behavior Genetics Issues
Behavioral Genetics A good overview of the issues inherent in any discussion of behavioral genetics, with some excellent links.
Recent Developments in Human Behavioral Genetics A nice site including
The DNA Files - DNA & BEHAVIOR - The Topic In-Depth Another good overview, with some discussion of specific examples of research done on the role of genes in behavior.
Science -- McGuffin et al. 291 (5507): 1232 A short overview of what’s known about the genetics of behavior, including a list of genes linked to behaviors.
Judicature: Impact of Behavioral Genetics on the Law and the Courts
Learning about addiction from the genome A more scientific mini-review of the role of genetics in addiction from Nature
Disorders Research A very comprehensive site covering all sorts of personality disorders.
DNA.com - AUDIOCAST: Human Nature: What Have Genes Got To Do With It? The transcript and audiofile of a discussion between Dr. Paul Ehrlich and Dr. Jerold Lowenstein
Dopamine/Serotonin and Behavior
Is There a Gene for Shyness? – Genetic News Network The role of D4DR in shyness
The Chemistry of Depression Talks about the biology of dopamine and serotonin function. Also, discusses antidepressants.
Close to Home - Science: Why Do People Take Drugs? An explanation of the role of dopamine in durg-abuse.
HHMI News: Knockout Mice Reveal Mechanism of Dopamine Regulation
Genetic&Bipolar Disorder An excellent site discussing the genetics of bipolar disorder
Bipolar II, Bipolar, Bipolar Disorder - home This site is great! Covers all aspects of many mental disorders relating to bipolar disorder.
Is there an "Anti-aging" Medicine? A nice review of the state of knowledge about aging as of 2001
LE Magazine, October 2002 - Report: Telomere Control & Cellular Aging A review of the molecular biology of aging
Scientific American: The Truth about Human Aging The title says it all. This is a position paper debunking a lot of the hype about reversing human aging.
Genetics in Aging Containing lay articles about the genetics of age-related illnesses (alzheimer’s, parkinson’s, heart disease, etc)
Genetics of Aging More discussion of recent finds relating genes to aging
PNAS -- Guarente et al. 95 (19): 11034 A review of the genetics of aging in model organisms
Science--de Lange, et al. A review of the science connecting telomerase activity to cell longevity
General Genetic Engineering Topics
Genetic Engineering Resource Center Lots of links to articles and sites discussing the science, ethics and politics of genetic engineering
Kimball's Biology Gene Therapy A section from Kimball’s Biology covering the basics of gene therapy
Gene Therapy Discussion of general gene therapy issues
The Scientist - Delivering the Goods The science behind gene therapy. A little hard-core, but thorough.
American Scientist: Gene Therapy A little bit lighter review of gene therapy technology
Signals Magazine: Article - High Noon For Gene Therapy 07/23/1999 An interesting article discussing the history of the science and business of gene therapy. Written for Biotech executives!
Fact Sheet 7.18 From the National Cancer Institute. A FAQ about gene therapy directed at cancer.
Genetic Therapy & Engineering A list of links to a variety of articles covering the science, ethics and morality of gene therapy
NHF | Bleeding Disorders Information Center | Gene Therapy: articles
Gene Therapy Clinical Trials/ Journal of Gene Medicine Gives a comprehensive list of gene therapy trials and their results
Transgenic Animals The basics from Kimball’s biology.
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals This particular site has some nice graphics illustrating the methods used to make genetically modified human offspring
Geneforum | Learn More: Inadvertently Crossing the Germ Line
Organ Donation and Xenotransplantation
Transplantation Biology Includes information on how organ transplantation works and the benefits of using xenotransplantation.
Science Explained, explains cloning, cell biology and developmental biology. A nice site explaining the history and science that went into the creation of Dolly, the first mammal cloned from adult somatic cells
Viable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells This is the original paper in Nature reporting the cloning of an adult female sheep, producing her clone, Dolly
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals This particular site has some nice graphics illustrating the methods that might be used to make genetically modified human offspring
[9]_I: Organism Cloning Part of Chapter 9 from Molecular Biology Contents
Applied Genetics News: CLONING: Bringing Back Endangered Species. A discussion of the possible use of nuclear transfer techniques to clone now extinct animal species and breeds
New Scientist | Cloning Lots of stuff on animal cloning from New Scientist, including news reports, articles, etc.
Roslin Institute Online: Information on cloning and nuclear transfer The webpage from the Institute in Scotland that produced Dolly. Has a lot of good links to resources (scientific, political and ethical) about cloning.
Cloning Fact Sheet From the Department of Energy
Cloning-MSNBC Lots of news and info about cloning
Simpler cloning method developed The ever onward march of technology. Cloning gets much easier.
Cloning and Medicine (Therapeutic Cloning)
Cloning ban coming? A rather testy discussion of therapeutic cloning issues.
Therapeutic Cloning A discussion about therapeutic cloning from the MRC (Medical Research Counsel) in England. The English perspective on the use of cloning for medical purposes.
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals This particular site has some nice graphics illustrating the methods used to make genetically modified human offspring
Scientific American: The First Human Cloned Embryo Scientific American article written by scientists at Advanced Cell Technologies
Cloning-MSNBC Lots of news and info about cloning
CNN.com Specials on stem cell research. Includes links to sites, news articles and opinion pieces
Stem Cell Primer, updated September 2002 A nice review of stem cell techniques
NIH: Stem Cell Information NIH guide to stem cells
NIH Backgrounder--Stem Cells Info on stem cell research
NIH: News: Stem Cell: Stem Cells; Scientific Progress and Future Research Directions More detailed examination of the use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes
Embryonic Stem Cell Research at UW-Madison
Stem Cells From Kimball’s Biology
Human Cloning and Reproduction
Can Humans Be Cloned? From Kimball’s Biology
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals This particular site has some nice graphics illustrating the methods used to make genetically modified human offspring
Howstuffworks "How Human Cloning Will Work" A good introduction to the science and ethics of human cloning.
The first human cloning company. A site about Clonaid, a company dedicated to producing human clones for reproductive reasons. I’m not quite sure what to make of them…..take a look for yourself.
Report of cloned fetus met with skepticism The other guys who are working hard to clone a human
Human Cloning, The How to Page How to clone a human in 7 easy steps. This is really all there is to it (in theory)!
Cloning-MSNBC Lots of news and info about cloning
Nat'l Acad Press Catalog: Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning From the National Academy of Sciences
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy Website Here you can hear some of the presentations that were made to the CSEPP in January 2001 during their work to produce the report above.
Human Cloning Foundation Website of a group advocating human cloning
Human Cloning, Transgenics and Eugenics
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals This particular site has some nice graphics illustrating the methods used to make genetically modified human offspring
Eugenics Archive The history of the American Eugenics movement
Genetic Modifications A discussion listing various ways humans could be genetically modified. An interesting list of possibilities.
Physical Improvements of Humans A list of ideas on how to improve the human race. An interesting read
Ethical, Legal and Social Issues
Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues --Genome Research From the Department of Energy
Library Information Services Gateway: Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown A great source for information on bioethics issues. Has a huge database of articles pertaining to bioethics. Some are available directly by hyperlink.
Human Gene Therapy A discussion of ethical and legal issues having to do with gene therapy. Includes a terrific bibliography.
The Great Debate: Genetic Engineering-How Far Should We Go? A panel style discussion about the ethics of genetic engineering
Embracing Change with All Four Arms
Human Cloning
Embryo cloning, adult DNA cloning and therapeutic cloning From religioustolerance.org. A very nice overview of the ethical issues swirling around cloning. Below are some of the specific issues that they focus on:
Ethical aspects of human cloning
Therapeutic cloning - Artificial organ creation