Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Building Blocks of DNA
How many times can you say deoxyribonucleic acid fast? Viewers learn the components that create DNA using a video representation. The narrator introduces learners to adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine and how they create the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Damage to DNA Leads to Mutation
While our bodies have incredible capabilities to repair damage, some mutations accumulate and lead to disease. Follow the life of a DNA mutation using a computer-generated animation. The narrator explains the impact of radiation,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
mRNA Splicing
Edit, copy, and paste are not just for word processing! Learn how a gene transcribes into mRNA and then translates into a protein. Editing is the first step and is the focus of the animation as it demonstrates how special enzymes remove...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Packaging
One thing that all cells have in common is the DNA in their nucleus. An animation demonstration models how six feet of DNA fits in each and every nucleus of each cell. The content includes information about the components of DNA and how...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Just when things get heated up, they cool down again! Using an animation, a video presentation demonstrates the process of polymerase chain reaction. A narrator describes the temperature changes and the process that ensues as...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Replication (Schematic)
Explore the beginnings of the theory to explain DNA replication using an eye-catching animation. Scholars view a simple rendition of DNA replication with an explanation of the first theories suggesting its existence. The animation shows...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Replication (Basic Detail)
Animations are powerful tools for seeing things the eye cannot! A thorough lesson demonstration models DNA replication with a 3-D animation. The video demonstrates how enzymes first separate the original DNA and then copy the resulting...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Replication (Advanced Detail)
Don't leave anything to the imagination! Use an animation to demonstrate the replication of DNA. The animation shows how the double helix separates and then begins copying nucleotides to create a copy.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Transcription (Basic Detail)
A double helix looks similar to a curled zipper. Viewers see transcription, which appears similar to unzipping the DNA. The basic level of detail works well as an introduction to transcription, RNA, and proteins.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Measuring Circadian Activity in Drosophila
How many hours should be in a day? One species of drosophila naturally prefers a 24.5 hour day, while another strongly prefers a 19-hour day. An animation and graph share data from each of these species when exposed to the typical light...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Mammalian Molecular Clock Model
Animals don't read clocks, so how do they know when it is time for eating, sleeping, and other cyclical needs? Viewers watch an animation of the genes and the molecular clocks inside most mammals. They compare the difference in wild...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
E. Coli Infection Strategy
While most strains of E. coli exist harmlessly inside our digestive tracts, some strains cause serious illness and even death. Watch the infection strategy of E. coli as it attacks a cell. The animation shares both what happens inside...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Bacterial Conjugation
Bacteria share the best gifts: genetic code offering drug resistance. As drug resistance becomes more common, scientists share how the process occurs with a brief animation. Viewers see a drug-resistant bacteria use conjugation to pass...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Recombination of Viral Genome
More than 144 sub-types of influenza A exist today. How is that possible? Scholars view an animation of a cell being attacked by two different strains of the flu. Then the strains mix, creating an entirely new third strain. The idea of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Genetic Engineering
No matter where you stand on the controversial topic of genetic engineering, the science that makes it possible is extraordinary. An animated video describes a process of genetic engineering involving bacteria. The quick...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Paintbrush Gene
Drosophila includes more than 1,500 species and often find themselves studied by geneticists. A scientist presents a lecture on one example of these studies on the paintbrush gene. The gene determines the amount and color of pigment on...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Pocket Mouse and Predation
The rock pocket mouse exists either with light colored or dark colored fur. As their habitat changes from sandy desert to lava flows the prominence of each color fur also changes. Viewers compare the visibility of each mouse's fur color...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Leptin Feedback Control System
Hormones come from many parts of the body, including the hormone leptin produced by fat tissues. This in turn, controls each person's hunger levels. Interested nutritionists view the feedback loop relating food intake, hormone levels,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Triplet Code
Genetic code for amino acids always uses three letters. The explanation for why it occurs in triplets makes for a brief statistical video. Examples of single and double letter codes prove insufficient for the number of amino acids.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
PPAR-gamma Activation in the Fat Cell
Each human contains more than six times the number of fat cells than there are people on the planet. Scholars learn how fat cells work to absorb fat and release hormones through a short animation. They recognize the relationship between...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Transcription (Advanced Detail)
Transcription happens in every cell, including plants, animals, and in all living matter. Observe the process of transcription through a slow and detailed animation of the process. With each step described in detail, viewers comprehend...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
RNA Folding
Don't leave genetics to the imagination! Demonstrate to your class the folding of RNA using a video animation. The animation shows the structure of RNA and how it folds on itself to create protein-like structures.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Chromosomes
Learn a little about what makes humans unique. Young scholars view a video lesson as an introduction to chromosome pairs. Images show pairs of chromosomes including the XX or XY sex chromosome combinations.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Genome Sequencing
Just how do you go about mapping something you cannot see? Take look into the Human Genome Project and discover the procedure scientists followed in their quest to map human genes. A video presentation takes the viewer through a...