Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts. The 2nd edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Art and illustrations have been substantially improved, and the textbook features additional assessments and related resources.

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Explain the “central dogma” of DNA-protein synthesis
Describe the genetic code and how the nucleotide sequence prescribes the amino acid and the protein sequence

This study guide on protein synthesis covers key terminology, protein molecules and the genetic code, RNA types and their roles, transcription, translation, and a few misconceptions. It is available for download with free registration.

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Early research showed that genes code for proteins. This was based on studies using mutant strains of bread mold. This multimedia article includes animations, pictures, video, biographical information, and quiz questions that are accessed by clicking on buttons along the bottom of the page.

Learning about transcription and translation can be difficult but this animation helps make the processes less confusing. The animation is interactive and it also covers the overall importance of proteins.

Read Francis Harry Compton Crick's Nobel Lecture entitled "On the Genetic Code," which was originally given by Crick December 11, 1962.

The Lives of Cells Student Edition book is one of ten volumes making up the Human Biology curriculum, an interdisciplinary and inquiry-based approach to the study of life science.

Discover the structure and function of DNA.

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Students perform an activity similar to the childhood “telephone” game in which each communication step represents a biological process related to the passage of DNA from one cell to another. This game tangibly illustrates how DNA mutations can happen over several cell generations and the effects the mutations can have on the proteins that cells need to produce. Next, students use the results from the “telephone” game (normal, substitution, deletion or insertion) to test how the mutation affects the survivability of an organism in the wild. Through simple enactments, students act as “predators” and “eat” (remove) the organism from the environment, demonstrating natural selection based on mutation.

Students learn about mutations to both DNA and chromosomes, and uncontrolled changes to the genetic code. They are introduced to small-scale mutations (substitutions, deletions and insertions) and large-scale mutations (deletion duplications, inversions, insertions, translocations and nondisjunctions). The effects of different mutations are studied as well as environmental factors that may increase the likelihood of mutations. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-assessments are provided.

A video that shows the similarities and dissimilarities between human's and chimpanzee's DNA by examining the DNA sequence code. [2:14]