All of the preceding sites prepare the ground for you to tackle the amazing DNA From the Beginning site at: http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/.
Here is cached a series of 41 separate multi-media explorations of the history of genetics from Mendel to the present day. Each section illuminates a basic concept – more or less in chronological order, although the story does start to jump about a bit as people return to re-examine previous work or use the techniques uncovered by earlier scientists. The concepts are often quite hard to grasp but all becomes much clearer as you work though the supporting animations and audio-visual files. Try it out for yourself. The resources take you though three distinct phases:
- classic genetics - which maps Mendel’s discoveries and the ways in which later early 20th Century scientists managed to prove his ideas and also establish their limits in the face of the complexity of human inheritance;
- molecules of genetics - which charts the work of scientists leading up to the work of Watson and Crick and their attempts to discover the true source of genes within cells; and finally,
- genetic organisation and control – here the lectures bring you up to date, examining the ways in which scientists have sought over the last 50 years to map the human genome and start the job of establishing the precise control our genes have over our metabolism, health and physical characteristics. It is a project that is just beginning, as scientists now move onto examining the relationship between the genetic code and the function of the more complex proteins they control and which determine the many specialised functions our differentiated cells have to perform.
It is on this site too that you will meet the many scientists involved in the genetic adventure and each stage of the story also features an image bank, which you could dip into for pictures to illustrate your work.
