Genetics: The Fundamentals

This is the first genetics course in a multi-part series. Building upon the concepts from biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology from our 7.00x Introductory Biology MOOC , these genetics courses go to a new level of depth. How do we know what we know about heredity and how can we design experiments to test hypotheses in genetics? How do we study the inheritance of different traits? How does that information help us understand heritable diseases? Professors Michael Hemann and Peter Reddien will challenge you to take your foundational knowledge of genetics to the next level. You will explore the foundations of the field of genetics and how to apply those concepts to understand modern studies of heredity. We developed the 7.03x Genetics series with an emphasis on: Developing your scientific thinking skills including articulating hypotheses, designing experiments, performing thought experiments, and interpreting data. Using data based on real scientific experiments and highlighting the scientific process in assessments. Asserting that biology is an active field that changes daily through examples of research and relevance to medicine, not static information in a textbook. Uniting themes and principles that inform how scientists conduct and interpret research. Implementing the science of learning in the course design.

• How to appreciate the applications of genetics to everyday life.
• How to apply terminology appropriately to concepts in genetics.
• How to justify the use of specific techniques and methods for answering different genetic questions.
• How to design genetic crosses to make conclusions about genotypes, modes of inheritance, and linkage.
• How to use a quantitative approach to determine different genetic probabilities and calculate genetic distances.

• Undergraduate introductory genetics and and molecular biology (as found in 7.00x Introductory Biology)