“Investigating the Exposome: Vinyl Chloride Exposure, DNA Damage & Repair” is a data interpretation and graphing activity that provides students a relevant context in which to explore and refine what they know about DNA structure and function, mutation, DNA repair, and cancer formation. The activity utilizes published scientific data and invites students to assess the impact of exposure to vinyl chloride on DNA in an effort to introduce them to the concept of the exposome and engage them in this exciting field of scientific research.

Students tend to be very interested in medical issues that affect them and their friends and family. Using cancer as a hook, the ART of Reproductive Medicine: Oncofertility curriculum (free, online, and NIH sponsored) has been developed to supplement the teaching of basic biological concepts and to connect biology and biomedical research. This approach allows integration of up-to-date information on cancer and cancer treatment, cell division, male and female reproductive anatomy and physiology, cryopreservation, fertility preservation, stem cells, ethics, and epigenetics into an existing biology curriculum. Many of the topics covered in the curriculum relate to other scientific disciplines, such as the latest developments in stem cell research including tissue bioengineering and gene therapy for inherited mitochondrial disease, how epigenetics occurs chemically to affect gene expression or suppression and how it can be passed down through the generations, and the variety of biomedical careers students could pursue. The labs are designed to be open-ended and inquiry-based, and extensions to the experiments are provided so that students can explore questions further. Case studies and ethical dilemmas are provided to encourage thoughtful discussion. In addition, each chapter of the curriculum includes links to scientific papers, additional resources on each topic, and NGSS alignment.

The DNA sequence of Tetrahymena telomeres was the first to be determined among all telomeres by Elizabeth Blackburn and Joseph Gall in 1978. In 1982, Jack Szostak and Blackburn showed that the unique DNA sequence contained in the telomeres served to protect the chromosomes from degradation. In 1985, Carol Greider and Blackburn showed how the telomeres could be elongated by the enzyme telomerase. These discoveries are milestones marking the start of the molecular era of telomere biology. Telomeres occur at the ends of chromosomes, like the plastic sheaths at the ends of shoelaces. The significance of telomere research was recognized by the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Blackburn, Szostak, and Greider in 2009. Although the award of the Nobel Prize is undoubtedly one of the most exciting events in the history of telomere biology, it by no means signals that we have reached the peak of telomere research. Research on telomeres and telomerase is still moving at a very rapid pace, and new findings about telomere functions and the underlying mechanisms are unveiled daily. This paper reviews the early work as well as recent advances in the field.

Microbial cultures swiftly adapt to lethal agents such as antibiotics or viruses by acquiring resistance mutations. Does this remarkable adaptability require a Lamarckian explanation, whereby the agent specifically directs resistance mutations? Soon after the question arose, Luria and Delbrück devised a clever experiment, the fluctuation test, that answered this question in the negative: microbial adaptation, they showed, is entirely consistent with a Darwinian explanation. Their 1943 article is a classic of biology literature, with practical and theoretical implications that continue to expand today. Implementing an updated fluctuation test in a college teaching lab provides a simple experimental setting in which beginning students learn to apply basic principles of evolutionary biology and scientific reasoning, while gaining hands-on experience in core technical advances of contemporary life science.

Before beginning a series of presentations on evolution, it would be prudent to survey the general level of students’ understanding of prerequisite basic concepts of reproduction, heredity, ontology, and phenotypic diversity so that teachers can avoid devoting time to well-known subjects of general knowledge and can spend more time on subjects that are unknown, forgotten, or misunderstood by most students. This article outlines a Socratic method for surveying and teaching to address these concerns.

In this two-part activity, students examine living cervical cancer cells and chromosomes from a women named Henrietta Lacks who died over 60 years ago, but whose cancer cells continued to divide and grow even after her death. Students then debate the legal and bioethical issues surrounding the use of her cells. This laboratory activity reinforces important introductory biology concepts such as mitosis and cancer. Once the students have experimented with Henrietta Lacks's cells, they feel connected to her story and passionate about exploring the science, legal, and racial issues surrounding the use of her cells.