looking for a source of DNA education

[denno]

Hiya,

Asking this for a friend, retired engineer, big IQ and so forth.

He subscribes to Scientific American, is interested in the genetics-related articles. But he says his biology education pretty much ended with high school in the early 'sixties, and he needs the ground-up info to understand those articles. (If you remember the 'sixties, no, I am not referring to planaria!)

 

He further says he can't locate this info. Everything he reads seems to assume everyone already knows the relationships among DNA, chromosomes, genes, and cells, for instance.

 

I arrived at this forum by googling "is a strand of DNA the same as a chromosome?"

 

And, having arrived, I am supposing some of you know the right book or online primer, or some such clearly explained source of the basics of molecular genetics.

 

Would take referrals kindly!

 

TIA

denno

[proximity1]

My own views, neither orthodox nor those of a trained & professional expert ( but drawn from others who are that *) are that the field is in full fomentation and has been for decades.

 

For that reason, I suggest this as a starting place: The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology .

 

The main issues are set out by experts of divergent opinions and, in the bibliography, your friend can find further reading on all the topics treated.

 

It's written at a level that will certainly be within easy grasp of a person such as you describe, even if he needs to look up some of the technical terms for a definition. Beyond that, he should have no trouble in starting and in getting a good idea of the mine-field that is modern molecular biology.

 

Now, others on this site, who are highly trained in the field and expertly credentialled won't agree with my views as stated here. And that's one reason why I wanted to pipe up. No other regular participant is likely to have presented my take on the matter.

 

Good luck to your friend. He's taking on a very interesting subject of study and at a very interesting time in its development.

 

__________________

 

( * Edited to add:--Oops! That is, they're drawn from views of "trained and professional experts", though not necessarily orthodox trained and professional experts)

 

In an earlier draft reply which I lost in the process of drafting, I'd pointed out that the basic "What is DNA?" enjoys fairly soild consensus. But, as to what it does and how, --there, you are into the mine-field of divergent opinion. For the "What is DNA?" most any intro text or even Wikipedia should suffice. It's on the other more interesting matters of what it does or doesn't do and how, that the Cambridge Companion will be very helpful, I believe.

Edited January 6, 2013 by proximity1

[CharonY]

Basic text books are your friend. Either general biology (such as Campbell) or specialized genetics books (Lewin for example).

[proximity1]

Arete, Hello there. C'mon! You almost have to put in a word here. I've said my bit, so I'll just follow silently. If you don't jump in, I may fall out of my chair. And you don't want to be the cause of that, now, do you?

[LaurieAG]

If I recall correctly there was a 10 year moritorium on recombinant DNA research in the 1970's.

[Arete]

Arete, Hello there. C'mon! You almost have to put in a word here. I've said my bit, so I'll just follow silently. If you don't jump in, I may fall out of my chair. And you don't want to be the cause of that, now, do you?

 

I'd just be echo'ing Charony in suggesting basic textbooks.

 

Also there's a Yale open course on Principles of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour: http://oyc.yale.edu/ecology-and-evolutionary-biology/eeb-122

[proximity1]

more potential sources F.Y.I. : (Please note, I do not personally endorse or recommend this course for content or quality--since I know nothing about its professors or the programs in which they teach. I mention the course solely for your friend's consideration and judgment as to its potential value to him.)

 

A free on-line course: "Introduction to Biology: DNA to Organisms" presented on-line (without fees).

 

 

see link for details and to enroll. Start date to be announced. 10 week course. 8-10 hrs./week work-load

 

link: https://www.coursera.org/course/introbiology

 

Biology , (9th edition) by Campbell & Reece, Benjamin Cummings, is the course's recommended text and has already been suggested above (see post N° 3 by CharonY) .

Edited January 8, 2013 by proximity1