Daily Newsletter

October 15, 2012 Gregor Mendel

Today we begin our discussions of genetics by looking at the history of Gregor Mendel and his legacy. There are a few resources that I would like you to review as you prepare for our discussions of genetics, namely a few biographical sketches of Mendel and his contribution to genetics.

Biography of Gregor Mendel - A good overview found at the National Health Museum.
Mendel Museum of Masaryk University - Interesting links, including pictures of Mendel's garden (restored from original).
The Nine Lives of Gregor Mendel - An interesting look at different perspectives of Mendel's work.
Gregor Mendel and the Principles of Inheritance - A good overview of Mendel, with a nice summation of his legacy.

As an overview, Gregor Mendel is important to genetics in that he was the first person to propose a mathematical basis for inheritance. While his work went unnoticed for generations, it is an important turning point; instead of far fetched views of inheritance (of which even Darwin was guilty), Mendel used systematic investigation and deduction to come up with general principles of inheritance. This becomes critical as it provides researchers with information on what to look for, and general rules that will become clearer as scientists begin to uncover nuclear division (mitosis and meiosis). Mendel's work is a companion to Darwin's, and with both in hand, we gain the modern scientific understanding of evolution.

In addition to learning about Gregor Mendel, I would like you to refresh you knowledge of probability by reviewing these two sites.

Probability Tutorial From West Texas A&M.
Probability Tutorial at ThinkQuest sonspored by Oracle Education Foundation.

The probability tutorials serve as a refresher. I'm not asking you to be an expert in probability theory, just that you have a good concept and foundation of probability theory. It will help as we work through Mendel's work.

Daily Challenge

For today, I want you to create a brief profile on Gregor Mendel. Talk about his life, his work and his legacy. What can you learn from Mendel? This question is not about his work in genetics, but more about his scientific technique. If Mendel were here today, what could you learn from him? What guidance would you seek? Also consider and reflect upon the idea that it took decades for his work to become known. Why was that? What affect did it have when people saw it? Consider the impact of his work on science and society? Do we use Mendel's concepts in general society?
Link to Forum

Scientific Article

Reference

Murphy, C; (2012) 'The Microbial Cell Factory'. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 10 (10):1949-1957.

Challenge

You are allowed to use this as a reference for your Milestone II paper.
In writing about this article in the forum, answer the following questions:

What is the author's intent on writing this paper?
What types of products can be manufactured using microorganisms?
How do we go about investigating microbial production of useful compounds?
How does this relate to our study of energetics?
What is the author's final message or statement about microbial cell factories?

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Learning Objectives

What is your comfort level discussing the work of Gregor Mendel?
What is your comfort level discussing the basic probabilities of inheritance?
What do you think is important about this section/chapter? What do you think you need to master by the end of this week? What skills do you need to possess?
Write about your learning needs for this week.
Link to Forum