Biology Subject Guide

Why study biology? What’s it all about? Why does it matter? This is the video that helps answer these common questions about biology. Images from the natural world reinforce the sense of wonder and excitement involved in studying life science. Interviews with science professionals help viewers appreciate the impact and value of biology in society. The program is organized around the general themes of biology: Diversity of Life, Heredity, Cells, Interdependence of Life, Flow of Matter and Energy, and Evolution of Life. Through exploring these themes, students gain an understanding of the principles and values of life science. An upbeat introduction to the study of the living environment. A great way to begin a class in the life sciences!

Launch a unit on life science with this video! It addresses central topics in biology—evolution, cellular structure, and hierarchical organization, to name only three; explains the process of scientific inquiry; and spotlights the contributions of key researchers in the life sciences, from Aristotle to Watson and Crick. The video also provides students with a bird’s-eye view of many exciting biological fields, including biochemistry, ecology, genetics, marine biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, paleontology, and more

Genetic and neurological research has led to increasingly sophisticated medical capabilities—resulting in a growing number of moral and ethical quandaries. This cluster of NewsHour segments surveys recent milestones in biology—many of which have produced as much controversy as insight. Reporting on the newly-identified anti-aging gene SIR2 and the cross-species implantation of stem cells, the program also inquires into artificial limb technology, the dynamics of the teenage brain, and the storage of environmental toxins in the human body. A visit to the American Bible Belt, including Kentucky’s Creationist Museum, highlights the ongoing debate over human origins

Research in biology would be impossible without a common framework for grouping and distinguishing species. This program looks at the classification system first proposed by Linnaeus and shows how it developed into the organizational structure used in the life sciences today.

Viewers also learn how new scientific names are created and how the existing system has been further refined using DNA studies. Overviewing the five kingdoms and their major subdivisions, the film describes how biologists use dichotomous keys to classify specimens and provides a helpful example of constructing a key. (22 minutes)

Mapping the human genome is one achievement in a long line of scientific milestones. This intro-level program explores discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries that gave birth to the science of genetics. Focusing on the work of Carl Linnaeus, Gregor Mendel, and Josef Kölreuter, the program shows how the basic laws of inheritance were established, highlighting the importance of Linnaean taxonomy and Mendel’s revolutionary notion that there is a double set of genetic instructions. Detailed discussions of the four-letter genetic code, the concepts of phenotype and genotype, and Mendel’s life and working methods are featured, along with an overview of the impact of genetic engineering.

From the sponge to the giraffe, from mosses to redwoods, this program examines the similarities and differences between the denizens of the animal and plant kingdoms. Distinctive characteristics of plants and animals, including physical structure, methods of reproduction, and life cycle, as well as where they find their food and how they interact with other organisms are discussed. Vivid images underscore the diversity of the phyla, classes, and species within these two kingdoms.

This program tells the story of how the secret of life has been pursued through the ages, using the prism of the most complex organism known—the human body. It begins with Galen’s attempts to save the lives of gladiators in ancient Rome, continues with the macabre dissections and near-perfect drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, explores the idea of electricity as a “life force,” and ventures into the microscopic realm of the cell. The film also connects a moral crisis triggered by work on the nuclear bomb with one of the greatest breakthroughs in biology—understanding the structure and workings of DNA.

This collection of 7 dazzling video clips focuses on various aspects of genetics ranging from history’s DNA eureka moment, paternity testing, structural degradation of DNA, and tumor research using transgenic mice; to a human death gene and the role of stem cells in a freshwater polyp known as the hydra; to a case of gender/chromosome mismatch in which a girl is unable to naturally mature into a woman.

As a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle, a Royal Navy survey ship charting the coast of South America, Charles Darwin encountered evidence on the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere that encouraged him to question the biblical story of creation. This program explores the intellectual journey he undertook as a result. Presented by British scientist Adam Hart-Davis, the film invokes specimens in Great Britain’s Natural History Museum, especially “Darwin’s Finches,” that were of fundamental importance to the naturalist’s ideas; the two major components of his theory, common ancestry and natural selection; Darwin’s sudden urgency regarding the publication of On the Origin of Species after Alfred Russel Wallace presented similar breakthroughs; Darwin’s gradual confidence that evidence supporting The Descent of Man would one day surface in the fossil record; and the genetic discoveries (which also emerged after Darwin’s death) that explained how characteristics are passed from one generation to another.

Darwin’s theory of natural selection paved the way for the field of genetics. But the concept of a gene didn’t exist in Darwin’s time, and it was several more decades before science could clearly show how an organism passes characteristics on to its offspring. This program spotlights the life and work of Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk living in what is today the Czech Republic—and the father of modern genetic science. The film follows Mendel’s studies of the reproduction of pea plants in his monastery garden, studies which noted the effects of cross-breeding on flower color, pod color, and pod shape; his awareness that, while only one “factor” or genetic characteristic may be visibly inherited, others lie dormant and can reappear in later generations; and the scant recognition given his work following its 1866 publication and its eventual acceptance in the early 20th century

Expanding on the subject of DNA, this intro-level program explores the central processes that govern the continuation of all life. Beginning with a discussion of Watson and Crick’s pivotal 1953 paper describing the structure of DNA and its possible role in heredity, the program describes Crick’s collaboration with Sydney Brenner in solving the DNA-to-protein puzzle and the role of RNA in protein synthesis. Mutagenic agents, restriction enzymes and plasmids, and the use of bacteria as model systems for genetic engineering are explored. The film also highlights the emergence of controversy resulting from genetic experimentation with higher organisms.

This program examines the basic elements of the scientific method: defining and researching the problem, forming a hypothesis, gathering information through experimentation and observation, analyzing the data, forming a conclusion, and communicating the results. Practical applications of the scientific method, such as testing new medicines and analyzing the performance of sporting goods, are included as well.