Explores the role of biological causation in the development of behavioral outcomes. Genes and other biological structures constitute complex behavior, but the behavior of complex organisms cannot be derived from the biogenetic units of which it is composed. (SLD)

This paper reviews the research on the relationship between the fragile x syndrome (FXS) and autism. Findings indicate that FXS is not a cause of autism, although the number of individuals with FXS and autism is higher than chance. FXS is seen to be a well-defined neurogenetic disease in contrast with autism, a relatively poorly defined behavioral…

Identifies difficulties in the task of finding the genes involved in causing autism, such as the unknown mechanism of inheritance, small size of families with an autistic child, the rarity of parent-child pairs, and the large number of genes that may be involved. Several strategies for finding relevant genes are discussed. (Author/DB)

Explains the Human Genome Project (HGP) and efforts to sequence the human genome. Describes the role of bioinformatics in the project and considers it the genetics Swiss Army Knife, which has many different uses, for use in forensic science, medicine, agriculture, and environmental sciences. Discusses the use of bioinformatics in the high school…

Explores the problem of dominance as a concept, traces its persistence to the history of mythic images of Mendel, and discusses how we can mend the flaws while providing valuable lessons in the history and nature of science. (SAH)

This abstract of a planned session on the future of medicine explains the use of nanotechnology in medicine to manipulate biomolecules that regulate life and death processes and to help improve health care delivery. Topics include nanodevices for drug delivery, cancer detection and cure, and repairing genes. (LRW)

Describes essential components for including genetics into undergraduate nursing education: a required basic science course in genetics and a model curriculum that integrates genetics content into nursing courses. (SK)

Explores high school biology and the teaching of genetics. The question is asked, Can the use of relevant, meaningful human genetics concepts diminish the number of misconceptions formed between new and existing concepts? Can the application of the Ausubelian learning theory also decrease the acquisition of misconceptions? (SAH)

Describes the latest advancements and setbacks in human gene therapy to provide reference material for biology teachers to use in their science classes. Focuses on basic concepts such as recombinant DNA technology, and provides examples of human gene therapy such as severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, familial hypercholesterolemia, and…

Used the classical twin design with 390 pairs of twins to study the influence of genetic factors on the large phenotypic variation in inspection time (IT) and whether the well-established IT-IQ association could be explained by a common genetic factor. Findings provide potentially important information for the biological bases of the…

Explores the conceptions of evolutionary processes held by a group of university students (n=126) before receiving instruction on evolution. Focuses on students' linguistic usage in order to speculate about the source of some of the conceptual problems students encounter in this area. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/YDS)

Conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are common childhood externalizing disorders that frequently co-occur. However, the causes of their comorbidity are not well understood. To address that question, we analyzed data from >600 Finnish twin pairs, who completed standardized…

Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) is caused by a micro deletion of chromosome 22q11 and associated with multiple system abnormalities. There is an increasing recognition of associations with psychiatric disorders. Neurological and brain abnormalities have been reported but to date no association with generalized epilepsy has been reported in…

For many years, mitochondrial phosphate-to-oxygen ratios were believed to be integral values: 3 for ATP/NADH and 2 for ATP/FADH[subscript 2]. The chemiosmotic theory has demonstrated that this need not be the case because coupling sites do not directly synthesize ATP. Coupling between coupling site redox reactions and ATP synthesis occurs via…

PCR, genomic DNA isolation, and agarose gel electrophoresis are common molecular biology techniques with a wide range of applications. Therefore, we have developed a series of exercises employing these techniques for an intermediate level undergraduate molecular biology laboratory course. In these exercises, students isolate genomic DNA from the…