About this course: Introduction to Genetics and Evolution is a college-level class being offered simultaneously to new students at Duke University. The course gives interested people a very basic overview of some principles behind these very fundamental areas of biology. We often hear about new "genome sequences," commercial kits that can tell you about your ancestry (including pre-human) from your DNA or disease predispositions, debates about the truth of evolution, why animals behave the way they do, and how people found "genetic evidence for natural selection." This course provides the basic biology you need to understand all of these issues better, tries to clarify some misconceptions, and tries to prepare students for future, more advanced coursework in Biology (and especially evolutionary genetics). No prior coursework is assumed.
Created by: Duke University
Taught by: Dr. Mohamed Noor, Earl D. McLean Professor and Chair,
Biology
| Language | English, Subtitles: Romanian |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome to Genetics and Evolution
General introduction to this MOOC, including coverage and expectations.
2 readings
- Reading: Welcome to the Course
- Reading: Course App and Readings
Evidence for Evolution
This module discusses the definition of the word "evolution" in a biological context, evidence for the truth of evolution and common ancestry of species, and public thoughts and misconceptions about biological evolution. This module is optional and will not be included in the course assessments. There are not class discussion forums for this section, as we feel such discussion can happen on other, non-course-related, sites on this topic (of which there are a great many on the internet).
5 videos, 1 reading
- Video: What is Evolution? (G)
- Video: Basic Principles and Evidence for Evolution (G)
- Video: Acceptance of Evolution (G)
- Video: Responding to Criticisms of Evolutionary Theory (G)
- Video: Interview with Jerry Coyne (G)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Evidence for Evolution
WEEK 2
Genetics I
An introduction to basic transmission genetics and inheritance. This module reflects what is often covered in high school biology courses in the USA.
6 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Introduction to Genetics (G)
- Video: Inheritance (G)
- Video: Genetic Scales (S)
- Video: Mitosis, Meiosis, and Ploidy (S)
- Video: Basic Single-Gene Inheritance (G)
- Video: X-Linked Inheritance and Independent Assortment (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Genetics I
- Practice Quiz: Genetics Problem Set 1
Graded: Genetics I Quiz
WEEK 3
Genetics II
This module delves somewhat more deeply into genetics and specifically the concept of "recombination." It begins to discuss how recombination is leveraged in classic genetic works as well as mapping simple genetic traits using crosses or data from natural populations.
7 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Recombination (G)
- Video: Calculation of Recombination Distance (S)
- Video: Generating a Gene Map (S)
- Video: Bonus Video: A More Challenging Problem (S)
- Video: Genetic Mapping (S)
- Video: Mapping Traits Relative to Markers in a Cross (S)
- Video: Mapping Traits Relative to Markers in a Population (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Genetics II
- Practice Quiz: Genetics Problem Set 2
Graded: Genetics II Quiz
WEEK 4
Genetics III
This module delves even more deeply into the complexities of the genetics underlying traits,the origin of genetic variation, and how "complex" traits (ones controlled by multiple genes) are studied genetically.
6 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Origin of Genetic Variation (G)
- Video: Shortcomings of the Single Gene Model (G)
- Video: Mutation Rates (S)
- Video: Mapping Complex Traits (S)
- Video: Complex Traits in Crosses (S)
- Video: Genome-wide Association Studies (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Genetics III
- Practice Quiz: Genetics Problem Set 3
Graded: Genetics III Quiz
WEEK 5
Heritability and Population Growth
This module begins the transition to evolutionary genetics by looking at the relative contributions of genetics and environment to traits, and also introduces how population growth is studied.
6 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Contribution of Genes vs. Environment I (G, S)
- Video: Contribution of Genes vs. Environment II (S)
- Video: Contribution of Genes vs. Environment III (S)
- Video: Breeder's Equation (S)
- Video: Population Growth (S)
- Video: Carrying Capacity (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Heritability and Population Growth
- Practice Quiz: Heritability Problem Set
Graded: Heritability Quiz
WEEK 6
Population Genetics I
Rather than looking at individuals, this module discusses how multiple individuals from natural populations can be studied genetically to begin to understand the evolutionary forces acting upon the populations.
6 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Allele and Genotype Frequencies (S)
- Video: Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (S)
- Video: Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (S)
- Video: Differences Between Populations: Origins and Quantification (S)
- Video: Differences Between Populations: Effects of Gene Flow (S)
- Video: Inbreeding (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Population Genetics I
- Practice Quiz: Population Genetics Problem Set 1
Graded: Population Genetics Quiz
WEEK 7
Population Genetics II
This module extends the previous one to specifically examine the effects of natural selection and genetic drift on genetic variation in natural populations.
7 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Natural Selection Fundamentals (S)
- Video: Types at Single Loci (S)
- Video: Types Acting on Traits (S)
- Video: Genetic Drift and Sampling Error (S)
- Video: Sampling Error over Many Generations (S)
- Video: Case Studies and Examples (G)
- Video: Rate of Neutral Molecular Evolution (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Population Genetics II
- Practice Quiz: Population Genetics Problem Set 2
Graded: Population Genetics II Quiz
WEEK 8
Molecular Evolution
This advanced module explains why sexual reproduction (involving recombination) is evolutionarily advantageous, and discusses how the analysis of DNA sequences can be used to understand the evolutionary forces acting on populations or species, either in general or at specific genes.
7 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Evolutionary Advantages of Sex (G)
- Video: Recombination, Selective Sweeps, and Hitchhiking (S)
- Video: Signatures of Natural Selection (S)
- Video: Background Selection (S)
- Video: Signatures of Natural Selection in Individual Genes (G,S)
- Video: Searching for Natural Selection: dN/dS (S)
- Video: Searching for Natural Selection: McDonald-Kreitman Test (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Molecular Evolution
- Practice Quiz: Molecular Evolution Problem Set
Graded: Molecular Evolution Quiz
WEEK 9
Adaptive Behaviors and Sexual Selection
This module changes gears a bit to look at the exciting field of animal behavior-- specifically, how particular behaviors are or may be adaptive, and why individuals choose particular others as mates.
5 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Optimality and Adaptive Feeding (G)
- Video: Communication and Parental Care (G)
- Video: Intro to Sexual Selection (G)
- Video: Sexual Selection: Male Competition and Female Choice (G)
- Video: Sexual Selection: Evolutionary Causes (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Adaptive Behaviors and Sexual Selection
- Practice Quiz: Behavior and Sexual Selection Problem Set
Graded: Adaptive Behaviors and Sexual Selection Quiz
WEEK 10
Speciation and Phylogenetics
This module gets into the nitty gritty of what causes the formation of new species, and how evolutionary relationships between species are inferred.
6 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Keeping Species Separated (G)
- Video: Speciation: Effects of Geography (S)
- Video: Speciation: Genetic Control (S)
- Video: Reading Evolutionary Trees (G)
- Video: Generating Evolutionary Trees (S)
- Video: Phylogenetic Comparative Method (S)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Speciation and Phylogenetics
- Practice Quiz: Speciation and Phylogenetics Problem Set
Graded: Speciation and Phylogenetics Quiz
WEEK 11
Applied Evolution
This final module talks about applications and misapplications of many of the concepts discussed in the course to human health, understanding, and well-being. This module is optional and not included in the assessments.
2 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Applications of Evolutionary Insights (G)
- Video: MISapplications of Evolutionary Insights (G)
- Reading: Supplemental Materials, Applied Evolution
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Ratings and Reviews
An excellent course suitable for students, novices and amateur experts alike. Prof. Noor gives a comprehensive introduction to the topic and his enthusiasm is infectious. As well as making the technical genetic material much easier to understand than it might otherwise be, he does a great job of explaining clearly and convincingly (in Jerry Coyne's phrase) 'Why Evolution is True'. Plus he seems like a really nice guy, which always helps! Highly recommended for anyone with the slightest interest in genetics and evolution.
Excellent course, topics are well-explained
Wonderful course! Beautiful topic, but most importantly for this kind of teaching platforms, very very dynamic!. Dr. Noor really nailed it, he totally masters every subject of the course and puts in a easy-to-learn and motivational way. I would happily go over this course or any other given by Dr. Noor! Congratulations and thank so much!
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Good course - the end was difficult. I would like to see the explanations for the correct test answers.