2. Figure 10.0_1
Chapter 10: Big Ideas
The Structure of the
Genetic Material
DNA Replication
The Flow of Genetic
Information from DNA to
RNA to Protein
The Genetics of Viruses
and Bacteria
22. Figure 10.5C
DNA polymerase
molecule
5′
3′
Parental DNA
Replication fork
5′
3′
DNA ligase
Overall direction of replication
3′
5′
This daughter
strand is
synthesized
continuously
This daughter
strand is
3′ synthesized
5′ in pieces
27. Figure 10.8B_s3
DNA
Strand to be transcribed
T A C T
A
T C
T G A A G
A A A A T C
T
T T
T A G
Transcription
RNA
A U G A A G U U U U A G
Translation
Start
codon
Polypeptide
Met
Stop
codon
Lys
Phe
30. Figure 10.9B
RNA polymerase
DNA of gene
Terminator
DNA
Promoter
DNA
1
Initiation
2
Elongation
3 Termination
Completed
RNA
Area shown
in Figure 10.9A
Growing
RNA
RNA
polymerase
51. Figure 10.16B
Normal
gene
mRNA
Protein
Nucleotide
substitution
A
U G A A G U
Met
A U G A
Met
U G G C G
C
Phe
Lys
U
Gly
Ala
U A G C
A G U U
Lys
Phe
Ser
G C
A
A
Ala
U Deleted
Nucleotide
deletion
A U G A A G
Met
U
U G G C G
Ala
Leu
Lys
C A
U
His
Inserted
Nucleotide
insertion
A U G A A G
Met
Lys
U
U G
Leu
U G G
C G C
Ala
His
55. Figure 10.17_1
Phage
Attaches
to cell
Phage DNA
cell lyses,
releasing
phages
Bacterial
chromosome
4
The
1
The phage injects its DNA
Lytic cycle
Phages assemble
2
3
New phage DNA and
proteins are synthesized
The phage DNA
circularizes
56. Figure 10.17_2
Phage
Attaches
to cell
Phage DNA
Bacterial
chromosome
1
The phage injects its DNA
7
Environmental
stress
Many cell
divisions
Lysogenic cycle
2
The phage DNA
circularizes
Prophage
6The
lysogenic bacterium
replicates normally, copying the
prophage at each cell division
5
Phage DNA inserts into the bacterial
chromosome by recombination
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Understanding bacteriophage replication can be difficult for students with limited knowledge of cell biology or genetics. Therefore, understanding the methods, results, and significance of the Hershey and Chase experiments is even more problematic. Considerable time and attention to these details will be required for many of your students.
2. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
Teaching Tips
1. A phage functions like a needle and syringe, injecting a drug. The needle and syringe are analogous to the protein components of the phage. The drug to be injected is analogous to the phage DNA.
2. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Understanding bacteriophage replication can be difficult for students with limited knowledge of cell biology or genetics. Therefore, understanding the methods, results, and significance of the Hershey and Chase experiments is even more problematic. Considerable time and attention to these details will be required for many of your students.
2. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
Teaching Tips
1. A phage functions like a needle and syringe, injecting a drug. The needle and syringe are analogous to the protein components of the phage. The drug to be injected is analogous to the phage DNA.
2. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Understanding bacteriophage replication can be difficult for students with limited knowledge of cell biology or genetics. Therefore, understanding the methods, results, and significance of the Hershey and Chase experiments is even more problematic. Considerable time and attention to these details will be required for many of your students.
2. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
Teaching Tips
1. A phage functions like a needle and syringe, injecting a drug. The needle and syringe are analogous to the protein components of the phage. The drug to be injected is analogous to the phage DNA.
2. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Understanding bacteriophage replication can be difficult for students with limited knowledge of cell biology or genetics. Therefore, understanding the methods, results, and significance of the Hershey and Chase experiments is even more problematic. Considerable time and attention to these details will be required for many of your students.
2. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
Teaching Tips
1. A phage functions like a needle and syringe, injecting a drug. The needle and syringe are analogous to the protein components of the phage. The drug to be injected is analogous to the phage DNA.
2. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
Figure 10.1A Phage T2
Figure 10.1B The Hershey-Chase experiment
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
2. Students often confuse the terms nucleic acids, nucleotides, and bases. It helps to note the hierarchy of relationships: nucleic acids consist of long chains of nucleotides (polynucleotides), while nucleotides include nitrogenous bases.
Teaching Tips
1. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
2. Consider comparing DNA, RNA, and proteins to a train (polymer). DNA and RNA are like a train of various lengths and combinations of four types of train cars (monomers). Proteins are also “trains” of various lengths but made of a combination of 20 types of train cars.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
2. Students often confuse the terms nucleic acids, nucleotides, and bases. It helps to note the hierarchy of relationships: nucleic acids consist of long chains of nucleotides (polynucleotides), while nucleotides include nitrogenous bases.
Teaching Tips
1. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
2. Consider comparing DNA, RNA, and proteins to a train (polymer). DNA and RNA are like a train of various lengths and combinations of four types of train cars (monomers). Proteins are also “trains” of various lengths but made of a combination of 20 types of train cars.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. If your class has not yet studied Chapter 3, consider assigning module 3.15 on “Nucleic Acids” before addressing the contents of Chapter 10.
2. Students often confuse the terms nucleic acids, nucleotides, and bases. It helps to note the hierarchy of relationships: nucleic acids consist of long chains of nucleotides (polynucleotides), while nucleotides include nitrogenous bases.
Teaching Tips
1. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
2. Consider comparing DNA, RNA, and proteins to a train (polymer). DNA and RNA are like a train of various lengths and combinations of four types of train cars (monomers). Proteins are also “trains” of various lengths but made of a combination of 20 types of train cars.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Students often confuse the terms nucleic acids, nucleotides, and bases. It helps to note the hierarchy of relationships: nucleic acids consist of long chains of nucleotides (polynucleotides), while nucleotides include nitrogenous bases.
Teaching Tips
1. The descriptions of the discovery of DNA’s structure are a good time to point out that science is a collaborative effort. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins earned Nobel prizes due to their historic conclusions based upon the work of many others (including Franklin, Griffith, Hershey, Chase, and Chargaff).
2. The authors note that the structure of DNA is analogous to a twisted rope ladder. In class, challenge your students to explain what the parts of the ladder represent. The wooden rungs represent pairs of nitrogenous bases joined by hydrogen bonds. Each rope represents a sugar-phosphate backbone.
Figure 10.3D Three representations of DNA
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
The authors note that although the general process of semiconservative DNA replication is relatively simple, it involves complex biochemical gymnastics. The DNA molecule is unwound, each strand is copied simultaneously, the correct bases are inserted, and the product is proofread and corrected. Before discussing these details, be sure that your students understand the overall process, what is accomplished, and why each step is important.
Teaching Tips
1. Demonstrate the complementary base pairing within DNA. Present students with the base sequence to one side of a DNA molecule and have them work quickly at their seats to determine the sequence of the complimentary strand. For some students, these sorts of quick practice are necessary to reinforce a concept and break up a lecture.
2. The semiconservative model of DNA replication is like making a photo from a negative and then a new negative from the photo. In each new negative and photo pair, the new item was made from an old item.
Figure 10.4A-s3 A template model for DNA replication (step 3)
Figure 10.4B The untwisting and replication of DNA
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
The authors note that although the general process of semiconservative DNA replication is relatively simple, it involves complex biochemical gymnastics. The DNA molecule is unwound, each strand is copied simultaneously, the correct bases are inserted, and the product is proofread and corrected. Before discussing these details, be sure that your students understand the overall process, what is accomplished, and why each step is important.
Teaching Tips
1. To explain the adaptive advantage of multiple replication sites over a single site of replication, ask the students to imagine copying, by hand, the first ten chapters of your biology textbook. The task would certainly go faster if ten students each copied a different chapter.
2. There are about 500,000 words in the Biology: Concepts & Connections textbook. The accuracy of DNA replication would be like copying every word in this textbook by hand 2,000 times and writing just one word incorrectly, making one error in every 1 billion words.
Figure 10.5A Multiple bubbles in replicating DNA
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
The authors note that although the general process of semiconservative DNA replication is relatively simple, it involves complex biochemical gymnastics. The DNA molecule is unwound, each strand is copied simultaneously, the correct bases are inserted, and the product is proofread and corrected. Before discussing these details, be sure that your students understand the overall process, what is accomplished, and why each step is important.
Teaching Tips
1. To explain the adaptive advantage of multiple replication sites over a single site of replication, ask the students to imagine copying, by hand, the first ten chapters of your biology textbook. The task would certainly go faster if ten students each copied a different chapter.
2. There are about 500,000 words in the Biology: Concepts & Connections textbook. The accuracy of DNA replication would be like copying every word in this textbook by hand 2,000 times and writing just one word incorrectly, making one error in every 1 billion words.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
The authors note that although the general process of semiconservative DNA replication is relatively simple, it involves complex biochemical gymnastics. The DNA molecule is unwound, each strand is copied simultaneously, the correct bases are inserted, and the product is proofread and corrected. Before discussing these details, be sure that your students understand the overall process, what is accomplished, and why each step is important.
Teaching Tips
1. To explain the adaptive advantage of multiple replication sites over a single site of replication, ask the students to imagine copying, by hand, the first ten chapters of your biology textbook. The task would certainly go faster if ten students each copied a different chapter.
2. There are about 500,000 words in the Biology: Concepts & Connections textbook. The accuracy of DNA replication would be like copying every word in this textbook by hand 2,000 times and writing just one word incorrectly, making one error in every 1 billion words.
Figure 10.5C How daughter DNA strands are synthesized
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. Consider placing the basic content from Figure 10.6A on the board, noting the sequence, products, and locations of transcription and translation in eukaryotic cells. This reminder can create a quick concept check for students as they learn additional detail.
Teaching Tips
1. It has been said that everything about an organism is an interaction between the genome and the environment. You might wish to challenge your students to evaluate the validity of this statement.
2. The information in DNA is used to direct the production of RNA, which in turn directs the production of proteins. However, in Chapter 3, four different types of biological molecules were noted as significant components of life. Students who think this through might wonder, and you could point out, that DNA does not directly control the production of carbohydrates and lipids. So how does DNA exert its influence over the synthesis of these two chemical groups? The answer is largely by way of enzymes, proteins with the ability to promote the production of carbohydrates and lipids.
Figure 10.6A_s3 The flow of genetic information in a eukaryotic cell (step 3)
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. The transcription of DNA into RNA is like a reporter’s transcription of a political speech. In both situations, the language remains the same, although in the case of the reporter, it changes its form from spoken to written language.
2. The sequential information in DNA and RNA is analogous to the sequential information in the letters of a sentence. This analogy is also helpful when explaining the impact of insertion or deletion mutations that cause a shift in the reading frame (see Module 10.16).
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. As students learn about transcription, they might wonder which of the two strands of DNA is read. This uncertainty may add to the confusion about the details of the process, and students might not even think to ask. As noted in Module 10.9, the location of the promoter, a specific binding site for RNA polymerase, determines which strand is read.
Teaching Tips
Another advantage to the use of RNA to direct protein synthesis is that the original code (DNA) remains safely within the nucleus, away from the many potentially damaging chemicals in the cytoplasm. This is like making photocopies of important documents for study, keeping the originals safely stored away.
Figure 10.8B_s3 Deciphering the genetic information in DNA (step 3)
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. As students learn about transcription, they might wonder which of the two strands of DNA is read. This uncertainty may add to the confusion about the details of the process, and students might not even think to ask. As noted in Module 10.9, the location of the promoter, a specific binding site for RNA polymerase, determines which strand is read.
Teaching Tips
Another advantage to the use of RNA to direct protein synthesis is that the original code (DNA) remains safely within the nucleus, away from the many potentially damaging chemicals in the cytoplasm. This is like making photocopies of important documents for study, keeping the originals safely stored away.
Figure 10.9A A close-up view of transcription
Figure 10.9B The transcription of a gene
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
Many analogies can be developed to represent the selective expression of a gene requiring the deletion of introns. Instructors that only assign some modules of a chapter are treating the chapters like sections of exons and introns, portions to be read and portions to be skipped. Alternately, students who highlight a chapter might be thought of as editing the book into exons, portions to be reviewed, and introns, nonhighlighted sections that will not be studied. Both analogies are imperfect, but may still convey the concept of selective reading.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
Many analogies can be developed to represent the selective expression of a gene requiring the deletion of introns. Instructors that only assign some modules of a chapter are treating the chapters like sections of exons and introns, portions to be read and portions to be skipped. Alternately, students who highlight a chapter might be thought of as editing the book into exons, portions to be reviewed, and introns, nonhighlighted sections that will not be studied. Both analogies are imperfect, but may still convey the concept of selective reading.
Figure 10.10 The production of eukaryotic mRNA
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. You may want to note the parallel between the discovery in 1799 of the Rosetta stone, which provided the key that enabled scholars to crack the previously indecipherable hieroglyphic code, and the cracking of the genetic code in 1961. Consider challenging your students to explain what part of the genetic code is similar to the Rosetta stone. This could be a short in-class activity for small groups.
2. The authors note the universal use of the genetic code in all forms of life. The evolutionary significance of this fundamental, universal language is a reminder of the shared ancestry of all life. The universal genetic code is part of the overwhelming evidence for evolution.
Figure 10.8A Dictionary of the genetic code (RNA codons)
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
The unique structure of tRNA, with binding sites for an amino acid and its codon, permits the translation of the genetic code. Like an interpreter who speaks two languages, the tRNA molecules match codons to the specified amino acid.
Figure 10.12B A ribosome with empty binding sites
Figure 10.12C A ribosome with occupied binding sites
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed in the nucleolus of eukaryotic cells. The ribosomal subunits are assembled in the nucleus using proteins imported from the cytosol. These subunits are then exported to the cytosol, where they are only assembled into a functional ribosome when they attach to an mRNA molecule. Some of these details are not specifically noted in the text, but may be required to fill out your explanations.
2. If you use a train analogy for the assembly of monomers into polymers, the DNA and RNA trains are traded in on a three-for-one basis for the polypeptide train during translation. In general, this produces polypeptides that have about one-third as many monomers as the mRNA that coded for them.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed in the nucleolus of eukaryotic cells. The ribosomal subunits are assembled in the nucleus using proteins imported from the cytosol. These subunits are then exported to the cytosol, where they are only assembled into a functional ribosome when they attach to an mRNA molecule. Some of these details are not specifically noted in the text, but may be required to fill out your explanations.
2. If you use a train analogy for the assembly of monomers into polymers, the DNA and RNA trains are traded in on a three-for-one basis for the polypeptide train during translation. In general, this produces polypeptides that have about one-third as many monomers as the mRNA that coded for them.
Figure 10.13B The initiation of translation
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. Students might want to think of the A and P sites as stages in an assembly line. The A site is where a new amino acid is brought in, according to the blueprint of the codon on the mRNA. The P site is where the growing product/polypeptide is anchored as it is being built. To help students better remember details of translation, they might think of the letters for the two sites as meaning A for addition, where an amino acid is added, and P for polypeptide, where the growing polypeptide is located.
2. If you use a train analogy for the assembly of monomers into polymers, the DNA and RNA trains are traded in on a three-for-one basis for the polypeptide train during translation. In general, this produces polypeptides that have about one-third as many monomers as the mRNA that coded for them.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
Teaching Tips
1. Students might want to think of the A and P sites as stages in an assembly line. The A site is where a new amino acid is brought in, according to the blueprint of the codon on the mRNA. The P site is where the growing product/polypeptide is anchored as it is being built. To help students better remember details of translation, they might think of the letters for the two sites as meaning A for addition, where an amino acid is added, and P for polypeptide, where the growing polypeptide is located.
2. If you use a train analogy for the assembly of monomers into polymers, the DNA and RNA trains are traded in on a three-for-one basis for the polypeptide train during translation. In general, this produces polypeptides that have about one-third as many monomers as the mRNA that coded for them.
Figure 10.14_s4 Polypeptide elongation (step 4)
Figure 10.15 A summary of transcription and translation
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. Mutations are often discussed as part of evolutionary mechanisms. In this sense, mutations may be considered a part of a creative process. The dual nature of mutations, potentially deadly yet potentially innovative, should be clarified.
Teaching Tips
1. A simple way to demonstrate the effect of a reading frame shift is to have students compare the following three sentences. The first is a simple sentence. However, look what happens when a letter is added (2) or deleted (3). The reading frame, or words, are re-formed into nonsense.
(1) The big red pig ate the red rag.
(2) The big res dpi gat eth ere dra g.
(3) The big rep iga tet her edr ag.
2. The authors have noted elsewhere that “A random mutation is like a random shot in the dark. It is not likely to improve a genome any more than shooting a bullet through the hood of a car is likely to improve engine performance!”
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. Mutations are often discussed as part of evolutionary mechanisms. In this sense, mutations may be considered a part of a creative process. The dual nature of mutations, potentially deadly yet potentially innovative, should be clarified.
Teaching Tips
1. A simple way to demonstrate the effect of a reading frame shift is to have students compare the following three sentences. The first is a simple sentence. However, look what happens when a letter is added (2) or deleted (3). The reading frame, or words, are re-formed into nonsense.
(1) The big red pig ate the red rag.
(2) The big res dpi gat eth ere dra g.
(3) The big rep iga tet her edr ag.
2. The authors have noted elsewhere that “A random mutation is like a random shot in the dark. It is not likely to improve a genome any more than shooting a bullet through the hood of a car is likely to improve engine performance!”
Figure 10.16A The molecular basis of sickle-cell disease
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. Mutations are often discussed as part of evolutionary mechanisms. In this sense, mutations may be considered a part of a creative process. The dual nature of mutations, potentially deadly yet potentially innovative, should be clarified.
Teaching Tips
1. A simple way to demonstrate the effect of a reading frame shift is to have students compare the following three sentences. The first is a simple sentence. However, look what happens when a letter is added (2) or deleted (3). The reading frame, or words, are re-formed into nonsense.
(1) The big red pig ate the red rag.
(2) The big res dpi gat eth ere dra g.
(3) The big rep iga tet her edr ag.
2. The authors have noted elsewhere that “A random mutation is like a random shot in the dark. It is not likely to improve a genome any more than shooting a bullet through the hood of a car is likely to improve engine performance!”
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Beginning college students are often intensely focused on writing detailed notes. The risk is that they will miss the overall patterns and the broader significance of the topics discussed. Consider a gradual approach to the subjects of transcription and translation, beginning quite generally and testing comprehension, before venturing into the finer mechanics of each process.
2. Mutations are often discussed as part of evolutionary mechanisms. In this sense, mutations may be considered a part of a creative process. The dual nature of mutations, potentially deadly yet potentially innovative, should be clarified.
Teaching Tips
1. A simple way to demonstrate the effect of a reading frame shift is to have students compare the following three sentences. The first is a simple sentence. However, look what happens when a letter is added (2) or deleted (3). The reading frame, or words, are re-formed into nonsense.
(1) The big red pig ate the red rag.
(2) The big res dpi gat eth ere dra g.
(3) The big rep iga tet her edr ag.
2. The authors have noted elsewhere that “A random mutation is like a random shot in the dark. It is not likely to improve a genome any more than shooting a bullet through the hood of a car is likely to improve engine performance!”
Figure 10.16B Types of mutations and their effects
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Students and many parents with young children expect antibiotics to be used to treat many respiratory infections, even though such infections may result from a virus. Students will benefit from a thorough explanation of why antibiotics are inappropriate for viral infections as well as the rising numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have evolved as a result of the overuse of antibiotics.
2. The success of modern medicine has perhaps led to overconfidence in our ability to treat disease. Students often do not understand that there are few successful treatments for viral infections. Instead, the best defense against viruses is prevention, by reducing the chances of contacting the virus and through the use of vaccines.
Teaching Tips
Students (and instructors) might enjoy thinking of a prophage as a smudge mark on the master copy of a class handout. The smudge is replicated every time the original is copied!
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Students and many parents with young children expect antibiotics to be used to treat many respiratory infections, even though such infections may result from a virus. Students will benefit from a thorough explanation of why antibiotics are inappropriate for viral infections as well as the rising numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have evolved as a result of the overuse of antibiotics.
2. The success of modern medicine has perhaps led to overconfidence in our ability to treat disease. Students often do not understand that there are few successful treatments for viral infections. Instead, the best defense against viruses is prevention, by reducing the chances of contacting the virus and through the use of vaccines.
Teaching Tips
Students (and instructors) might enjoy thinking of a prophage as a smudge mark on the master copy of a class handout. The smudge is replicated every time the original is copied!
Figure 10.17_1 Two types of phage replication cycles (part 1)
Figure 10.17_2 Two types of phage replication cycles (part 2)
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Students and many parents with young children expect antibiotics to be used to treat many respiratory infections, even though such infections may result from a virus. Students will benefit from a thorough explanation of why antibiotics are inappropriate for viral infections as well as the rising numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have evolved as a result of the overuse of antibiotics.
2. The success of modern medicine has perhaps led to overconfidence in our ability to treat disease. Students often do not understand that there are few successful treatments for viral infections. Instead, the best defense against viruses is prevention, by reducing the chances of contacting the virus and through the use of vaccines.
Teaching Tips
1. There is an interesting relationship between the speed at which a virus kills or debilitates a host and the extent to which it spreads from one organism to another. This is something to consider for a class discussion. Compare two viral infections. Infection A multiplies within the host, is spread by the host to other people through casual contact, but does not cause its lethal symptoms until 5–10 years after infection. Virus B kills the host within 1–2 days of infection, is easily transmitted, and causes severe symptoms within hours of contact. Which virus is likely to spread the fastest through the human population on Earth? Which might be considered the most dangerous to humans?
2. Students might wonder why a person needs to get a new seasonal flu vaccination every year. The annual mutations and variations in flu viruses require the production of a new flu vaccine annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors patterns of flu outbreaks, especially in Asia (where many variations of flu viruses originate). They must predict which strains are most likely to be dangerous in the coming year and then synthesize an appropriate vaccine.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Students and many parents with young children expect antibiotics to be used to treat many respiratory infections, even though such infections may result from a virus. Students will benefit from a thorough explanation of why antibiotics are inappropriate for viral infections as well as the rising numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have evolved as a result of the overuse of antibiotics.
2. The success of modern medicine has perhaps led to overconfidence in our ability to treat disease. Students often do not understand that there are few successful treatments for viral infections. Instead, the best defense against viruses is prevention, by reducing the chances of contacting the virus and through the use of vaccines.
Teaching Tips
1. There is an interesting relationship between the speed at which a virus kills or debilitates a host and the extent to which it spreads from one organism to another. This is something to consider for a class discussion. Compare two viral infections. Infection A multiplies within the host, is spread by the host to other people through casual contact, but does not cause its lethal symptoms until 5–10 years after infection. Virus B kills the host within 1–2 days of infection, is easily transmitted, and causes severe symptoms within hours of contact. Which virus is likely to spread the fastest through the human population on Earth? Which might be considered the most dangerous to humans?
2. Students might wonder why a person needs to get a new seasonal flu vaccination every year. The annual mutations and variations in flu viruses require the production of a new flu vaccine annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors patterns of flu outbreaks, especially in Asia (where many variations of flu viruses originate). They must predict which strains are most likely to be dangerous in the coming year and then synthesize an appropriate vaccine.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
1. Students and many parents with young children expect antibiotics to be used to treat many respiratory infections, even though such infections may result from a virus. Students will benefit from a thorough explanation of why antibiotics are inappropriate for viral infections as well as the rising numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have evolved as a result of the overuse of antibiotics.
2. The success of modern medicine has perhaps led to overconfidence in our ability to treat disease. Students often do not understand that there are few successful treatments for viral infections. Instead, the best defense against viruses is prevention, by reducing the chances of contacting the virus and through the use of vaccines.
Teaching Tips
1. The authors note that the figures in Module 10.22 represent the size of the bacterial chromosome as much smaller than they actually are. They note that a bacterial chromosome is hundreds of times longer than the cell. These chromosomes use extensive folding to fit inside the cell.
2. You might challenge students to explain why conjugation is sometimes called bacterial sex. Students might note that two organisms cooperate to produce a new, genetically unique bacterium.
Figure 10.22D The integration of donated DNA into the recipient cell’s chromosome
