Reports results from clinical interviews with 32 children on the topic of inherited characteristics. Results are discussed regarding differences in age and incorrect beliefs concerning environmentally produced traits. (CS)

Discussed is the potential of vestigial structures and unexpressed developmental patterns from an organism's natural history to provide for rapid morphological change based on small genetic change which may call these suppressed attributes back into action in modified form. (RE)

Lists informal definitions for 130 terms dealing with recombinant DNA research. (CS)

Discusses disease and genetic disorders as evolutionary mechanisms. Emphasizes the archeological evidence from past human populations and societies, mentioning albinism, scurvy, sleeping sickness, bone conditions, various host-parasite relationships, rickets, sickle-cell anemia, diabetes, and influenza. (CS)

Among the ethical problems in screening for severe spina bifida in a fetus are deciding who should be screened; whether the procedure, which has medical risks, is justified; and how to deal with the only known solution--abortion. Journal availability: see EC 114 865. (PHR)

Describes the methodological and statistical criteria neccessary for adequate measurement of organism-environment correlations and presents a path anaysis model as an approach to the study of these correlations. (BD)

Presents the views of the chairman of the group of scientists that prepared the preliminary proposal on DNA guidelines for the 1975 Asilomar Conference. Examples and illustrations are used to argue that stronger and tighter controls than those outlined in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines are needed. (CS)

Explains the use of a card lab to demonstrate how a population bottleneck impacts genetic diversity and the survival of a population. Uses a standard deck of playing cards to show how age structure can magnify bottleneck effects. (DDR)

Provides further details regarding a philosophical reconstruction of the structure of Classical Genetics Theory that can facilitate problem-solving instruction. Describes how that reconstruction can facilitate realistic problem solving on the part of students. Contains 60 references. (DDR)

Presents a hands-on activity on the phenomenon of genetic drift in populations that reinforces the random nature of drift and demonstrates the effect of the population size on the mean frequency of an allele over a few generations. Includes materials for the demonstration, procedures, and discussion topics. (KHR)

This article reviews and critiques the research on possible genetic factors in stuttering. The failure to consider epidemiologic factors is thought to have biased previous research, but recent data provide evidence that spontaneous recovery and chronicity are influenced by genetic factors. Findings support previous conclusions about combined…

Describes the Distance Educational Network of Europe (DUNE) project that aims at enhancing the development of distance education in an international context. Highlights issues relating to the delivery of distance-learning courses in a transnational forum. Describes the genetic engineering course that aims at explaining the core techniques of…

Genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement were studied for 314 pairs of white full siblings and 53 pairs of half siblings and 161 pairs of black full siblings and 106 half-sibling pairs (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth). Results support a common heritage view of the growth of academic knowledge. (SLD)

Describes how to lead students through a classroom-based simulation to teach a variety of concepts such as X-linked traits, sex determination, and sex anomalies. The simulation utilizes inexpensive materials such as plastic eggs that twist apart to represent human eggs and sperm. (AIM)