Explore the bacteria at Yellowstone to introduce molecular biology. Scholars learn about the process of genetic engineering and how it has progressed over time, including the identification of the breast cancer genes and the main players: restriction enzymes, hydrogen bonds, gel electrophoresis, polymerase chain reaction, and DNA sequencing. 

Concepts

molecular biology, enzymes, deoxyribonucleic acid, gel electrophoresis

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Use this video to introduce genetic engineering
• Have scholars research identified genes — an example would be the BRCA 2 gene to identify breast cancer  and share findings with the class

Classroom Considerations

• Teacher needs a computer, Internet access, and a way to project the video
• Video assumes scholar understands base pairs 
• Scholars may need further explanation of Taq polymerase and its role in DNA sequencing
• Video 22 in a series of 31

Pros

• Good analogy of a ransom note to explain process of genetic engineering
• At the end, the narrator mentions that future scientists will map individual genomes, which is amazing to consider; it offers a great point of discussion for classes

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.11-12.4