Unraveling the genetic code is one of science's greatest achievements, yet for many genetics remains an impenetrable jungle of difficult concepts and confusing jargon. This program uses video, graphics and 3-D animation to explain the basic concepts of genetics and heredity in a straightforward and logical way. All living things are made of cells, and cells have a blueprint or master plan that controls them. The blueprint is the book of life; it is divided into chapters called chromosomes, and constructed from an alphabet of just four letters that are the bases of the DNA molecule. The smallest structure that can convey a meaningful piece of information - an instruction to the cell to do something useful, or the equivalent in English to a sentence - is a gene. Living things grow through replication and division of their cells (mitosis). This video demonstrates how genes are copied during this process. It also looks at how life begins, and the role of meiosis. It shows that sexual reproduction is a lottery, enabling a chance mixture of characteristics from the father and mother to combine, to provide each new generation with a random complement of characteristics unique to them (genetic variation). 20 minutes. © 2003. Grades 7-12.
Part of Jaguar's Biology Basics Video Series.
