Outlines some of the current scientific and educational issues related to behavioral genetics and recommends using behavior as a vehicle to improve the teaching of genetics at the high school level. Contains 77 references. (DDR)

Describes the successful use of giving examples of genes affecting various steps in biochemical pathways to teach gene interaction. Finds that once students grasp the notion that genes can interact because they control different steps within biochemical pathways, the reason why phenotypic ratios appear to be non-Mendelian becomes more obvious and…

Used prospective data to examine the relationship between the family environment and child and adolescent achievement and to determine genetic and environmental contributions to this relationship. Data from 2,108 sibling full- and half-sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggest that genetic factors explain about…

Argues that Darwinian evolution provides a framework for understanding how a polymer such as RNA might have arisen and perpetuated itself in a changing environment. Also explains how one genetic system invents another. (DDR)

Recommends the use of ethical issues to engage college nonscience majors in discussion. Focuses on using problems that pertain to biomedical situations and decisions such as transferring living parts from one type of organism into another. (DDR)

Proposes models for the lichen symbiosis, genomic, and plasmid DNA and fluid mosaic membrane structure. The models operate at the classroom level with the classroom becoming the cell in a DNA exercise with students as interactive components. (DDR)

Attempts to show how genes and environments cooperate in the construction of organisms, focusing on how genes require environmental and behavioral inputs to function appropriately during the normal course of human development. The discussion is related to a model of probabilistic epigenesis. (SLD)

This paper examines the validity of Asperger syndrome as a condition apart from high-functioning autism. Potential differences between Asperger syndrome and autism is possible if both are strictly defined. The importance of genetic factors in Asperger syndrome is stressed. Research on the nosological validity of this condition and its relationship…

The biometrical school of scientists who fit models to IQ data traces their intellectual ancestry to R. Fisher (1918), but their genetic models have no predictive value. Fisher himself was critical of the concept of heritability, because assortative mating, such as for IQ, introduces complexities into the study of a genetic trait. (SLD)

Discusses a model that describes how knowledge is obtained in environmental microbiology. Suggests that constraints on knowledge will yield to relationships between methodological innovations and their iterative application. Contains 132 references. (DDR)

Points out the difficulties students have in making connections from the DNA molecule to a phenotype. Presents an activity in which students imitate the actions of functional and nonfunctional enzymes and examine the phenotype of organisms of different genotypes. (YDS)

Examines the empirical evidence cited in favor of the operation of genetic factors in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and argues that the evidence does not support a role for genetic factors in the disorder. Discusses problems compromising family, twin, and adoption studies. (JPB)

Describes an approach that provides mathematical tips and helpful suggestions for presenting the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to predict allele frequencies, phenotypes, and genotypes in populations. (ASK)

This article presents a case report of a male child with Fragile X syndrome, typical autistic behavior, and cerebellar hypoplasia. Questions are raised concerning the possible role and importance of cerebellar abnormalities in relation to autistic symptoms. (DB)

Reports a study that investigated knowledge level about sickle cell disease among students at a predominantly black university. Survey results indicated the students most directly concerned did not well understand the basic facts about sickle cell disease. Most students could not recall whether they had ever been tested. (SM)