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Records returned 112
A Decision to Branch Out
In this flipped case study, students use the scientific method to investigate how changes in a few genes have shaped the evolution of maize plant a ...
A Different Kind of Stress
Protein folding and trafficking is essential for normal cell function, and when it goes awry it can lead to various chronic conditions, including f ...
A Family in Need: In-Class Case Study on Cancer Genetics
This case is designed as an in-class, problem-based learning activity for students to learn about several innovative medical applications of molecu ...
A Family in Need: Internet-Enhanced Case Study on Cancer Genetics
This problem-based learning case was designed for students to learn about several innovative medical applications of molecular biology. Students as ...
A Metabolic Storm
This "clicker" case presents the true story of a 20-year-old athlete who developed a life threatening reaction to anesthesia during a simple electi ...
A Rainbow of Sepia
This flipped case study examines the selective pressures that have affected the evolution of diverse human skin pigmentations. To prepare for the c ...
A Recipe for Invention
In this case study, designed to help break down stereotypes about scientists and engineers, students research the personal and professional lives o ...
A Right to Her Genes
In this true story, students examine the case of a woman with a family predisposition to cancer who is considering genetic testing. Students learn ...
Abracadabra
This case introduces students to HIV, its life cycle, treatment, and problems associated with treatment options. The case, which incorporates criti ...
African Illness: A Case of Parasites?
This case is based on a British patient presenting to a hospital with an array of symptoms after returning from an African safari. Students learn a ...
Aliens on Earth?
The discovery of a bacterium capable of substituting arsenic for phosphorus in its DNA was announced with much fanfare in 2010. It was immediately ...
Am I a Girl, or a Boy?
A baby is born with ambiguous genitalia to parents from the Dominican Republic and is determined to be a female based on general appearance. ...
An Infectious Cure
This four-part interrupted case on phage therapy was developed for a freshmen non-majors course in molecular biology. The case begins with a story ...
An Unusual Case of Animal Reproduction
This case study in human reproduction follows Andrea, a college biology student who discovers she is pregnant with twins, but is not sure who the f ...
Bad Fish, Bad Bird
This "clicker case" is based on the General Biology edition of James Hewlett’s “Bad Fish” case in our collection. The case follow ...
Bad Fish: Cell and Molecular Biology Edition
In this version, developed for classes in cell and molecular biology, the protagonist of the case, Dr. Westwood, survives an accidental poisoning-n ...
Bringing Back Baby Jason
This dilemma case, designed for use in an undergraduate genetics course, explores the basic genetic concepts underlying the cloning process as well ...
BSL-4: Authorized Personnel Only
This case study is based on the 2014 Ebola epidemic that spread to multiple highly populated countries in West Africa, making it the largest and mo ...
CAR T Immunotherapy
This directed case study was written to help students learn about an innovative cancer therapy that harnesses a patient's immune system to recogniz ...
Chimpanzee Droppings Lead Scientists to Evolutionary Discovery
This interrupted case study focuses on the research of Dr. Beatrice Hahn, who investigates DNA sequences in chimpanzee droppings in order to explor ...
Ciara’s Struggle
This interrupted case study follows Abby and her husband Jim who have recently adopted a young girl, Ciara. Ciara was homeless prior to the adoptio ...
Classic Experiments in Molecular Biology
All introductory biology textbooks, and many sophomore-level genetics textbooks as well, describe several classic experiments in molecular biology. ...
Colon Cancer
In this case, developed for an introductory genetics class, students meet a woman whose family has a history of colon cancer. Students create a ped ...
COVID-19
In this directed case study, students assume the role of investigators for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as they examine and ...
Cow of the Future
In this case developed for an introductory general microbiology course, students consider concepts of bacterial genetics as they act as consultants ...
Cut It Out!
This directed case study was developed to introduce students to the CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing. CRISPR-Cas9 has made numerous headlines ...
DeafBlind Cajuns
This modular case study tells the story of Dan and Annie, a married couple of Acadian ancestry who have a genetic form of deafblindness called Ushe ...
Death Becomes Us
This interrupted case study reviews the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in apoptosis, or programmed cell death, and how it may be used i ...
Decoding the Flu
This "clicker case" was designed to develop students' ability to read and interpret information stored in DNA. Making use of personal response syst ...
Diabetes and Insulin Signaling
Cellular signaling, otherwise known as signal transduction, is the mechanism by which cellular context and environmental situation are used to regu ...
Do You Really Know What You're Eating?
Starting from a fictional “news” report about an apparent allergic reaction to a taco tainted by genetically modified corn, students co ...
Don’t Lose Your Head!
This whimsical case introduces students to the topic of dorsal/ventral (DV) axis formation in amphibians. After the recent birth of a good-sized cl ...
Evolution in Action
This case study is based on Dr. Richard Lenski’s ongoing studies of evolution in E. coli. Students are introduced to prokaryotic bio ...
Failing to See the Forest for the Trees in Lyme Disease
This clicker case study is based on the true story of Ella Buss, a young girl infected with the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, the causa ...
Fatally Flawed?
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, was first detected in China in late 2019 and rapidly spread thro ...
FOXP2 and Speech
FOXP2 was first identified as a human language gene when a mutated version of the gene was found to cause speech problems in the KE family in Londo ...
From Cow Juice to a Billion Dollar Drug, With Some Breakthroughs in Between
Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. Despite the successful management of diabetes w ...
From Twiggy to Tubby
This case study explores the topics of diffusion, osmosis, membrane transport, and the physiological significance of glucose and insulin in the hum ...
Glowing Plants on Kickstarter
This case study is centered on a real scenario from 2013 in which the Kickstarter fundraising platform included a fundraising proposal from a group ...
Golden Rice
In this intimate debate case, students consider whether to support the development and use of Golden Rice as a means to alleviate vitamin A deficie ...
Hidden in Plain Sight
As nonliving entities, viruses face specific challenges when replicating in a host. Avoiding the host immune system is something that every v ...
Holes in the Matter
This case centers on a fictional group of young adults who studied abroad together in Scotland as college students. A number of them develop diseas ...
Host-Pathogen Interactions
This case study introduces students to the complex field of immunology and the wide variety of host-pathogen interactions that drive evolutionary c ...
How to Make ATP
This case study for the flipped classroom introduces the discovery process used to elucidate how cells make ATP. Data from three seminal primary li ...
I Scream for Ice Cream
Lactose intolerance, caused by a lack of persistent lactase enzyme expression, is a trait commonly observed in adult humans, with varying geographi ...
Identical Twins, Identical Fates?
This case tells the story of Elise, a college freshman whose identical twin sister has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Elise is concern ...
In Search of a Cure for Breast Cancer
In this directed case study, students analyze data, draw a research-based conclusion, interpret experimental results, and discuss the relevance of ...
It’s All Greek to Me: Genetics Edition
Stephania and Nikolaus Stamos are concerned about their baby daughter. They take her to her pediatrician, who immediately notices that the once bri ...
Joel E. Greengiant Learns About Peas
This case study follows purveyors of peas, Joel E. and Jolene Greengiant, as they learn about the origin, biochemistry, genetics and eventual artif ...
King Tut's Family Secrets
This "clicker case" is based on several articles published in 2010 that determined the genealogy of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun based ...
Living in a Genomic World
This directed case study was developed in order to present genomic data to students, allow them to interpret the impact of genetic variations on ph ...
Living With Her Genes
When a 30-year-old genetic counselor learns that her 38-year-old sister has developed early onset familial Alzheimer’s disease (EOFAD), a dom ...
More Than Meets the Eye
The classic example of a human trait that behaves in a clear Mendelian fashion is human eye color. The gene that controls it exists in two forms: a ...
mRNA Processing
This clicker case study follows a dialogue between two college students, Lucy and Dan, as they discover how alternative splicing of mRNA molecules ...
Murder by HIV? Grades 5-8 Edition
This case study gives students an opportunity to draw a conclusion about an actual crime that was prosecuted in Louisiana. A physician was accused ...
Murder by HIV? Grades 9-12 Edition
This case study gives students an opportunity to draw a conclusion about an actual crime that was prosecuted in Louisiana. A physician was accused ...
Murder by HIV? Undergraduate Edition
This case study gives students an opportunity to draw a conclusion about an actual crime that was prosecuted in Louisiana. A physician was accused ...
New Ways to Breathe
This case study follows a young cystic fibrosis (CF) patient named Lucas. Through Lucas's story and interactions between his parents and pediatrici ...
Not Exactly...
This case study follows a young couple that is consulting with a genetic counselor about their plans to have a child. Because of their family histo ...
One Tablet a Day May Keep Cancer Away
This dilemma/decision case study is intended to demonstrate how knowledge of signal transduction pathways can be applied to the pharmaceutical indu ...
Oral Allergy Syndrome
Students who work through this case study will follow the progress of “Sam” as he explores the microbiological mechanism of oral allerg ...
Patient Zero
Emerging diseases and potential pandemics make the news nearly every year. Students (and everyone else) may wonder where new infectious diseases co ...
Pharmacogenetics: How Genetic Information Is Used to Treat Disease
In this clicker case, two teenagers are diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the bone marrow where there is an abnormal o ...
Pharmacogenetics: Using Genetics to Treat Disease
This case study investigates the applications of genetics to medicine by exploring one of the first examples of a pharmacogenetic test to enter mai ...
PKU Carriers
In this interrupted case study, students read about a college student with phenylketonuria (PKU). Students learn how diet affects a person wi ...
Poor Devils
Cancer is usually thought to be a disease that affects individuals. But could cancer evolve to become infectious? This case follows the research on ...
Protein Targeting Gone Awry
This case study synthesizes students' knowledge of the central dogma and cell structure by examining a rare health disorder in order to understand ...
Put to the Test
This directed case study follows the fictional story of an emergency room physician as he treats multiple patients being admitted to the hospital w ...
Resistance is Futile - Or Is It?
While the majority of people are prone to HIV infection, some individuals remain uninfected despite repeated exposure. This case study is based on ...
Resistance Is Futile, Or is It? The Clicker Version
This clicker case is an adaptation of a case by Annie Prud'homme-Généreux that was originally published by the National Center for Ca ...
Resurrection
This case study examines the molecular methods that were used to reverse engineer the 1918 influenza virus strain in order to try and solve the mys ...
Rice ’n Beans or Ricin Beans?
Taylor must write a report about a natural toxin while she is home from college on break. After a family dinner conversation about the latest attem ...
Saving Superman
Using a combination of directed case method and role-playing in which students learn about their roles using the jigsaw technique, this case study ...
Seeds of Dissension
A possible act of industrial espionage is the backdrop for this case study, which introduces students to analytical techniques routinely used in mo ...
Sickle Cell Anemia
In this case study on sickle cell anemia, students are introduced to some of the key researchers responsible for determining the molecular basis of ...
Snow White Apples?
The protagonist of this two-day flipped case study, “Maria,” has two problems. She doesn’t like it when the apple slices in her l ...
SNPs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, and That's What People Are Made Of
In this case on genome privacy, students work together to research one of six assigned lobbying groups’ views in this area and then present t ...
Tazswana’s Story
In this directed case study, students read about a little girl with beta-thalassemia, a life-threatening disease. Through a series of increasingly ...
The Buzz about Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the widespread loss of honeybees, has devastating repercussions for the environment, industry, and the economy. Thi ...
The Campus Coffee Shop
Since caffeine is a widely used substance, especially by college age students, this case on the effects of caffeine on the human body serves as a r ...
The Case of the Druid Dracula
This case is based on a lurid crime featured on the BBC program Crimewatch in December 2001 that was solved thanks to forensic DNA analysi ...
The Case of the Druid Dracula: Clicker Case Version
This “clicker case” is a modified version of another case in our collection by the same name. It uses a PowerPoint presentation (~3MB) ...
The Case of the Malfunctioning Neuron
This flipped case study tells the story of Joyce, a biology student who notices the development of some unusual symptoms (foot slapping and slurred ...
The Challenge of Epilepsy
This case study was originally developed for undergraduate science students as part of an extracurricular competition, but it could also be deliver ...
The Chemistry of Cooley's Anemia
Young parents, Max and Andrea Forest, learn that their child is suffering from the genetic disorder, thalassemia. Treatment requires a lifetime com ...
The Ebola Wars: Advanced Edition
This case study was written for upper level undergraduate and graduate students to review foundational aspects of virology and to examine Ebola vir ...
The Evolution of Color Vision in Monkeys
This case study examines the evolution color vision in Old World and New World monkeys from multiple biological perspectives. This integrative appr ...
The Evolving Genetics of Disease Resistance
This interrupted case study for the flipped classroom applies evolutionary genetics research to human health. Students learn about a naturally occu ...
The Molecular Origin of Life: Replication or Metabolism-First? Advanced Version
This case explores both the evidence and inconsistencies in the two major hypotheses for the origins of life on Earth: Replication-First or Metabol ...
The Mona Lisa Molecule: Mysteries of DNA Unraveled
This case study details the historical discovery of the structure of DNA. Images of this key molecule are as iconic as those of the Mona Lisa, and ...
The Mystery of the Seven Deaths
In this interrupted case study, students learn about the function of cellular respiration and the electron transport chain and what happens when th ...
The Physiology of a Neurodegenerative Disease
In this case, a young woman learns that her uncle has been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. She talks with her fellow graduate students t ...
The Potential Perils of Pauline
This directed case study follows the story of “Pauline,” a 20-year-old college student who has just received results from a personal ge ...
The Power of a Test
In this directed case study, students follow the story of “Marcus,” a recent college graduate who is working as a technician in a clini ...
The Sad But True Case of Earl Washington
In 1983, Earl Washington "confessed" to a violent crime that he did not commit and was sentenced to death row. After spending seventeen years in pr ...
The Sound of DNA
The steps involved in transcription and translation can be difficult for students to comprehend. Relating popular culture references (such as song ...
To Be or Not to Be ... an Inhibitory Neurotransmitter
Jessica and George are students struggling to understand the forces which control ions moving across membranes. For the nervous system in par ...
Too Many B Cells
Taylor's doctor notices she has swollen lymph nodes and an elevated white blood cell count on her routine annual exam and asks her to return for a ...
Toxic Circumstances
This interrupted case study tells the true story of Karl P. Schmidt, a herpetologist and museum curator who was bitten by a venomous snake in 1957. ...
Two Peas in a Pod
Based on an actual event, this case study focuses on some of the problems associated with reproductive technologies. It tells the story of the "Jon ...
Water Can Kill?
This case study presents three true stories of people who suffered fatal hyponatremia (low sodium concentration in their body fluids) after consumi ...
What's Wrong with Our Son?
In this interrupted case study, students examine the fundamental connections between genotype, 3-D protein structure and phenotype by exploring pos ...
When a Gene Turned Off Is a Matter of Life or Death
When Jordan is diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme), his college plans are unexpectedly put on hold. This scenario is presented in ...
Where’s the Evidence?
This analysis case study uses a jigsaw activity in which students learn about characteristics of the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 ...
Which Little Piggy Went to Market?
In this case study, a scientist is contacted by a friend from a meat processing plant who is looking for a test to determine the sex of the animals ...
Why is Patrick Paralyzed?
This “clicker case” introduces students to a rare genetic disease in which an enzyme is deficient in a critical metabolic pathway&mdash ...
Why Was the 1918 Influenza So Deadly?
In this intimate debate, students examine the causes of the devastation wrought by the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic. Students consider whether t ...
Wiggles Isn’t Wiggling: Apoptosis Edition
This case study tells the story of a family pet that is diagnosed with cancer. Claire learns that her dog Wiggles has lymphoma, and that hist ...
Wiggles Isn’t Wiggling: Gene Expression Edition
This case study tells the story of a family pet that is diagnosed with cancer. Claire learns that her dog Wiggles has lymphoma, and that hist ...
Wrestling with Weight Loss
In this interrupted case study, a young wrestler considers purchasing 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) online as a means to drop weight quickly. However, a ...
Yeast Cryptography
This "clicker case" focuses on the use of molecular biology concepts and techniques to protect the property of a fictional bread company. Students ...
Yvette's Brave Battle
This case is based on the true story of a woman with choriocarcinoma, a rare type of rapidly dividing and metastatic cancer derived from cells of t ...