Learning Biological Concepts On Your Own

[ATP]

Hello, I'm new to this forum. I'm not a Biology student, but I want to learn the science on my own. I'm interested mainly in Cellular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, and Evolution.

In my research, I've found some good websites, textbooks and this forum. Anyone know some good resources that I can use to help me study these concepts?

Textbooks, books, websites, magazines, forums, anything really.

 

Aside from resources, how does one go about doing their own experimentation. I spoke to a Biology student and they recommended observing living organisms and studying them considering there are some organisms we know little about. They also recommended microscopy (Specifically getting dyes and observing different cell strucutres).

I have a microscope that can view up to 400x magnification (10x eye-piece * 40x lense) and a couple of slides.

 

With my limited experience of two General Biology courses, I'm a bit lost as to where to begin. Preferably, I like things to be hands on (hence the question about experimentation).

I'll probably start reading Campbell's Biology on my own soon.

[keyesrussell]

First off I'd like to say it's very admirable that you want to learn these subjects of your own accord. Hat off to you sir/madam. 

I'd say you want to start with basic concepts. Even if you already know the life processes make sure you properly understand exactly what each of them entails. Then move on to evolution/natural selection and make sure you grasp that. People tend to underestimate the value of thoroughly understood foundation topics so although I know that you'd like to go straight to experimentation I would advise you make sure you get a more conceptual understanding first. Once you get the bigger general concepts, move to respiration, which is the first bit of biochemistry. Understand it at a chemical level, the equation etc., then try and use textbooks/online resources to get the entire process at a biochemical level e.g. Krebs cycle. Though now I think about it you might be better off doing photosynthesis first. You should also learn the basic biochemistry of the most important molecules in the human body such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and DNA and RNA. That should be the basic outline of biochemistry that you need and from there you can go to more advanced reactions though it will be difficult to understand at first. N.B. some basic chemistry is also required so different kinds of bonds/reactions especially organic ones would be helpful to dabble in. 

In terms of cellular biology, a good foundation would be learning the functions and appearances of all the cell organelles. This is where your microscope could be handy, though without a proper stain it could be hard to see anything and these are typically toxic and hard to get hold of. If you can get hold of them though, then you can experiment with different tissue samples, sliced very very finely and then carry out the stain procedure. This should cause certain features of the cell structure to show up. From organelles, different cell types would be a good direction, and you can try and grasp the different human/plant cell types and their functions. This can take a while, especially with things like nerve cells and muscle cells which have very complicated mechanisms of action. Well worth it though.

Genetics and evolution are more standalone, though to really understand genetics a fairly advanced knowledge of biochemistry. You should probably start with DNA replication which shouldn't be too hard to find. From there move to the processes of transcription and translation. At this point you can do some more macroscale genetics like Mendel's crosses and pedigree charts. By this point you should make sure you have the basic definitions of all genetic concepts nailed e.g. allele, genotype, phenotype etc. You can find these through the magic of Google, though textbooks at university level tend to have their own slightly different definitions.

I hope this was at least slightly helpful. Any questions feel free to let me know and I wish you all the best with your endeavours.

[Phi for All]

On 11/3/2017 at 3:14 PM, ATP said:

With my limited experience of two General Biology courses, I'm a bit lost as to where to begin.

You've already begun, with two courses. I recommend you build on that experience. The goals you want to reach are best achieved with a structured program that helps prepare you with the requisite knowledge for each new step. Without that structure, you're at the mercy of not knowing what you don't know. Humans learn better among other humans. 

Does it have to be "on your own"?