About this course: This class is aimed at people interested in understanding the basic science of plant biology. In this four lecture series, we'll first learn about the structure-function of plants and of plant cells. Then we'll try to understand how plants grow and develop, making such complex structures as flowers. Once we know how plants grow and develop, we'll then delve into understanding photosynthesis - how plants take carbon dioxide from the air and water from soil, and turn this into oxygen for us to breathe and sugars for us to eat. In the last lecture we'll learn about the fascinating, important and controversial science behind genetic engineering in agriculture. If you haven't taken it already, you may also be interested in my other course - What A Plant Knows, which examines how plants see, smell, hear and feel their environment: https://www.coursera.org/learn/plantknows.
Who is this class for: This course is primarily aimed at beginning biology students, at graduates of "What a Plant Knows" who want a deeper understanding of plant biology, and at individuals who like science.
Taught by: Professor Daniel Chamovitz, Ph.D., Dean, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
Director, Manna Center for Plant Biosciences
| Level | Intermediate |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Arabic, Hebrew |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Video: Course Promo
- Reading: Suggested Reading - Week 1
- Video: 1.1 All plants are made of cells
- Video: 1.2 Different types of microscopy are used to study cells
- Video: 1.3 Characteristics of plant cells
- Video: 1.4 Plastids
- Video: 1.5 The origin of chloroplasts
- Video: 1.6 The cell wall
- Video: 1.7 The vacuole and plasmodesmata
- Video: 1.8 Vascular tissue - xylem
- Video: 1.9 Vascular tissue – phloem
- Reading: Suggested Reading - Week 2
- Video: 2.1 Plant organs
- Video: 2.2 Apical meristems
- Video: 2.3 Root structure and development
- Video: 2.4 Shoot apical meristem and development
- Video: 2.5 Flower development
- Video: 2.6 Development is regulated by gene expression
- Reading: Suggested Reading - Week 3
- Video: 3.1 Chloroplast structure
- Video: 3.2 Chemical currency: ATP and NADPH
- Video: 3.3 Light and Photosynthesis
- Video: 3.4 The light-dependent reactions and electron transfer
- Video: 3.5 The Light-dependent Reactions and ATP
- Video: 3.6 Phototsynthesis 2: The dark reactions and sugar synthesis
- Video: 3.7 Discussion with Prof. Nir Ohad: The Carbon Cycle
- Video: 3.8 Inside a photosynthesis lab
- Reading: Suggested Reading - Week 4
- Video: 4.1 Introduction
- Video: 4.2 Cultivated foods and genetic changes
- Video: 4.3 Conventional breeding and genetic engineering methods
- Video: 4.4 Recombinant DNA technology
- Video: 4.5 Transgenic plants - proof of concept
- Video: 4.6 Case study: Genetic engineering in combating viruses in agriculture
- Video: 4.7 Examples of genetic engineering: Nutritional benefits
- Video: 4.8 Potential of genetic engineering: I Insect resistant plants
- Video: 4.9 Concerns about the use of genetic engineering in agriculture
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I must say that I used a lot of external reading in order to submit the quizes. Other than that, the course is very intersting.
Fantastic course. I have learnt a lot of about plants.
Great course! Very interesting. Awesome instructor/presenter too!
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exellent and focused course providign an in-depth look into the essential points of the molecular biology of plants as well as exploring and educating us about important issues of agriculture genetic engineering and our ever changing relationship with planets and the world we live in in general