Genetics: The Fundamentals (edX)

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?

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.

What you'll learn

- 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.

Syllabus

- Introduction to Genetics

- Mendelian Genetics

- Inheritance Patterns and Pedigrees

- Recombination and Linkage

- Tools for Analyzing Linkage

- Analyzing Human Mendelian Traits