Biology: The Science of Life (The Great Courses Series) | Date: 13 April 2011, 16:50
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One of the greatest scientific feats of our era is the astonishing progress made in understanding the intricate machinery of life. We are living in the most productive phase so far in this quest, as researchers delve ever deeper into the workings of living systems, turning their discoveries into new medical treatments, improved methods of growing food, and innovative new products.
"The 21st century will be the century of biological science, just as the 20th century was the century of physical science," predicts Professor Stephen Nowicki, an award-winning teacher at Duke University who has specially adapted his acclaimed introductory biology course for The Teaching Company to bring you up to date on one of the most important fields of knowledge of our time.
This intensive, 72-lecture course will give you the background and guidance to explore in depth the fundamental principles of how living things work—principles such as evolution by natural selection, the cellular structure of organisms, the DNA theory of inheritance, and other key ideas that will help you appreciate the marvelous diversity and complexity of life.
[b]Explore Living Systems at All Levels[/b]
Make no mistake: this is a challenging course. But the rewards are tremendous. You will explore living systems at all levels, from biological molecules to global ecosystems. Along the way, you will gain insight into some of the most pressing questions facing society:
[list][*]What does it mean to say that the human genome has been "sequenced," and why should we sequence the genomes of other species?
[*]How is an organism "genetically modified" or "cloned," and what are the benefits—or potential costs—of doing so?
[*]What are "stem cells," and how might they contribute to human health and welfare?
[*]Why is HIV/AIDS so difficult to treat?
[*]What will happen if vast tracts of tropical rainforest are cut down, and why does it matter that the temperature of the Earth is rising?
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In addition, you will discover the mechanisms behind such intriguing phenomena as why children resemble their parents, what causes plants to bend toward light, how memories are stored, why some birds have very long tails, and how life itself began on Earth.
Above all, you will learn how to think about biology, so that in your day-to-day life you will understand the significance and complexities of news stories, medical issues, and public debates, not to mention what is going on in your own garden and in nature all around you.
[hide=Course Lecture Titles]
[list][*]1. The Scope of "Life"
[*]2. More on the Origin of Life
[*]3. The Organism and the Cell
[*]4. Proteins—How Things Get Done in the Cell
[*]5. Which Molecule Holds the Code?
[*]6. The Double Helix
[*]7. The Nuts and Bolts of Replicating DNA
[*]8. The Central Dogma
[*]9. The Genetic Code
[*]10. From DNA to RNA
[*]11. From RNA to Protein
[*]12. When Mistakes Happen
[*]13. Dividing DNA Between Dividing Cells
[*]14. Mendel and His Pea Plants
[*]15. How Sex Leads to Variation
[*]16. Genes and Chromosomes
[*]17. Charles Darwin and "The Origin of Species"
[*]18. Natural Selection in Action
[*]19. Reconciling Darwin and Mendel
[*]20. Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
[*]21. What Are Species and How Do New Ones Arise?
[*]22. More on the Origin of New Species
[*]23. Reconstructing Evolution
[*]24. The History of Life, Revisited
[*]25. From Cells to Organisms
[*]26. Control of Gene Expression I
[*]27. Control of Gene Expression II
[*]28. Getting Proteins to the Right Place
[*]29. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
[*]30. How Cells Talk—Signals and Receptors
[*]31. How Cells Talk—Ways That Cells Respond
[*]32. From One Cell to Many in an Organism
[*]33. Patterns of Early Development
[*]34. Determination and Differentiation
[*]35. Induction and Pattern Formation
[*]36. Genes and Development
[*]37. Homeostasis
[*]38. Hormones in Animals
[*]39. What is Special about Neurons?
[*]40. Action Potentials and Synapses
[*]41. Synaptic Integration and Memory
[*]42. Sensory Function
[*]43. How Muscles Work
[*]44. The Innate Immune System
[*]45. The Acquired Immune System
[*]46. Form and Function in Plants I
[*]47. Form and Function in Plants II
[*]48. Behavior as an Adaptive Trait
[*]49. Energy and Resources in Living Systems
[*]50. How Energy is Harnessed by Cells
[*]51. Enzymes—Making Chemistry Work in Cells
[*]52. Cellular Currencies of Energy
[*]53. Making ATP—Glycolysis
[*]54. Making ATP—Cellular Respiration
[*]55. Making ATP—The Chemiosmotic Theory
[*]56. Capturing Energy from Sunlight
[*]57. The Reactions of Photosynthesis
[*]58. Resources and Life Histories
[*]59. The Structure of Populations
[*]60. Population Growth
[*]61. What Limits Population Growth?
[*]62. Costs and Benefits of Behavior
[*]63. Altruism and Mate Selection
[*]64. Ecological Interactions Among Species
[*]65. Predators and Competitors
[*]66. Competition and the Ecological Niche
[*]67. Energy in Ecosystems
[*]68. Nutrients in Ecosystems
[*]69. How Predictable Are Ecological Communities?
[*]70. Biogeography
[*]71. Human Population Growth
[*]72. The Human Asteroid
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