This set of resources was developed and employed numerous times to help students clarify the frequent confusion about cells' chromosome number and ploidy level. It uses simplified stick diagrams to represent chromosomes and circles or oval to represent cells and includes a short, low-tech video tutorial that delivers the information, a worksheet that students can use to practice and test their understanding of the video materials, a set of clicker questions that address the same points as the worksheet, and instructor's notes.

In this project, each student will be assigned to a group of three to four students. Each group will be given random character description cards. These characters will be treated as the first generation in a fictitious town. The cards will include specific genetic traits, skills, jobs, as well as reference if the character suffers from type 2 diabetes. Students will need to use the character cards to author and illustrate a short story about the fictitious town which follows at least three generations of the families in the cards. Students must also include pedigrees for a minimum of three traits as well as diabetes as evidence of inheritance.

This template supports faculty and staff as they interrogate their OER and iterate the resource. This template is part of a Canvas course titled Adapting OER to Incorporate UDL.  The initial course is offered by ISKME to California Community College faculty and staff and was created with support from the Michelson Foundatin's Spark Grant Program.

This chapter is apart of our Brain and Behavior Neuroscience open-access textbook. The content of this chapter focuses on aggression and aggressive behavior in animal models and humans. The neurophisology of aggression is explored, along with more specific topics of aggression like epigenetic influence and age influence. 

This chapter is apart of our Brain and Behavior Neuroscience open-access textbook. The content of this chapter focuses on aggression and aggressive behavior in animal models and humans. The neurophisology of aggression is explored, along with more specific topics of aggression like epigenetic influence and age influence. 

"Normally, an animal gets half its DNA from its mother and half from its father. But Dolly had three mothers: one mother gave Dolly her DNA; one supplied an egg; and the third, her surrogate mother, gave birth to her. Dolly is an identical twin of the mother who gave her her DNA. But Dolly is six years younger."This kid-friendly Web page helps kids understand how and why Dolly was cloned, and understand the potential benefits of cloning as well as the controversy it raises.

A gene as a stretch of DNA on a chromosome. Alleles as versions (sequence variants) of a gene.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"There may be a silver lining for those at high risk for Alzheimer’s: as the chance of getting the disease goes up, certain treatments may become more effective. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s largely relies on a gene called APOE, with different variants conferring more or less risk. Usually, having a high-risk allele is bad news, but a group of researchers from New York University has reported that carrying the high-risk allele could actually boost responsiveness to immunotherapy, a promising new treatment option. The APOE gene helps determine how much beta-amyloid accumulates in the brain. Beta-amyloid starts as small misfolded bits of protein that clump together to form the plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. As the plaques appear, the brain deteriorates, particularly in regions associated with memory. One way to potentially halt this process is to use antibodies that recognize beta-amyloid. The antibodies bind to the protein and signal to the immune system to clear it out..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This annotated slideshow adapted from KET's Electronic Field Trip to the Forest illustrates how blight decimated the American chestnut tree and the methods scientists use to identify and pollinate the remaining trees to create blight-resistant trees.

DNA is composed of two strands of nucleotides held together by hydrogen bonding. The strands each run from 5' to 3' and run in antiparallel, or opposite, directions from one another.

Using the context of apples, students will apply their knowledge of heredity and genetics to distinguish between sexual and asexual reproduction as they explain how new varieties of apples are developed and then propagated to meet consumer demand for a tasty, uniform, consistent product. Photo by Sokmean Nou on Unsplash

OER | Biology Overview:

On this webpage you will find OER Biology textbooks along with supplemental materials and a few lecture videos.
The purpose of these discipline-specific webpages is to display content that might be of interest to faculty who are considering adopting open educational resources for use in their classes. This list of content is by no means exhaustive. The nature of open educational resources is very collaborative and it is in that spirit that we encourage any comments about the content featured on this page or recommendations of content that are not already listed here.

Students construct paper recombinant plasmids to simulate the methods genetic engineers use to create modified bacteria. They learn what role enzymes, DNA and genes play in the modification of organisms. For the particular model they work on, they isolate a mammal insulin gene and combine it with a bacteria's gene sequence (plasmid DNA) for production of the protein insulin.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Two mosquito species in America have been engaged in a battle for dominance for the past 30 years: the native Aedes aegypti and the invasive Aedes albopictus -- also known as the Asian tiger mosquito The tiger mosquito has a distinct competitive advantage Male Aedes albopictus are really good at wooing female Aedes aegypti The resultant interspecies mating permanently sterilizes the female, effectively ending her reproductive future But Aedes aegypti are evolving the ability to resist the advances of Aedes albopictus Although this is good news for Aedes aegypti the outlook is darker for humans, as Aedes aegypti are key transmitters of diseases like Zika and dengue fever Researchers have now started to uncover the genetic changes tied to this resistance Uncovering the molecular correlates governing mosquito mating preferences could lead to better control strategies and might help prevent future outbreaks of disease Burford Reiskind, et al..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students toss coins to determine what traits a set of mouse parents possess, such as fur color, body size, heat tolerance, and running speed. Then they use coin tossing to determine the traits a mouse pup born to these parents possesses. Then they compare these physical features to features that would be most adaptive in several different environmental conditions. Finally, students consider what would happen to the mouse offspring if those environmental conditions were to change: which mice would be most likely to survive and produce the next generation?

Bioethics is the study of the moral implications of new and emerging medical technologies and looks to answer questions such as selling organs, euthanasia and whether should we clone people. The series consists of a series of interviews by leading bioethics academics and is aimed at individuals looking to explore often difficult and confusing questions surrounding medical ethics. The series lays out the issue in a clear and precise way and looks to show all sides of the debate.