All Learning Centers Start here: Medical Terminology, rung 1 of 7Seven short rungs on decoding medical words. Built for Human Body Systems, and the skill you use on every diagnosis, drug name, and treatment term in this course.Four-course case studyMeasles: More Than a RashMI lens: Prevention, effectiveness, risk, and uncertainty.
Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions): Learning Centers
60 centers · 5 units
Launch
Apply PPE SDS and Aseptic SetupRead a safety sheet, name the hazard, and match PPE to the body part at risk.Categorize Medical InterventionsSort medical interventions by what they do for a patient or population.Set Up A Lab NotebookSet up a lab notebook so another scientist can follow what happened.
Unit 1
Telling a sign from a symptomSort what a clinician can measure (signs) from what a patient reports (symptoms).Why antibiotics hit bacteria but not virusesConnect drug targets to cell structure to explain why antibiotics fail on viral infections.Building an outbreak claim from multiple evidence sourcesMake a claim-evidence-reasoning argument supported by independent lines of evidence, not a single clue.Reading a serial-dilution / ELISA standard curveUse a standard curve to turn an absorbance reading into a concentration.Build An Outbreak Line ListUse infection evidence to build an outbreak line list step by step.Classify PathogensUse infection evidence to classify pathogens step by step.Map Symptom Clusters to A HypothesisUse infection evidence to map symptom clusters to a hypothesis step by step.Interpret A BLAST Result E-value, CoverageUse molecular-test evidence to interpret a blast result (e-value, coverage) accurately.Read a DNA SequenceUse chromatogram peak evidence to read a DNA sequence accurately.Use Controls In IdentificationUse molecular-test evidence to use controls in identification accurately.Perform Serial DilutionsUse molecular-test evidence to perform serial dilutions accurately.Build A Standard CurveUse molecular-test evidence to build a standard curve accurately.Model Antigen Antibody BindingUse molecular-test evidence to model antigen-antibody binding accurately.Run An ELISA With ControlsUse molecular-test evidence to run an elisa with controls accurately.Distinguish Sensitivity vs SpecificityUse molecular-test evidence to distinguish sensitivity vs specificity accurately.Evaluate False Positive Negative RiskUse molecular-test evidence to evaluate false positive/negative risk accurately.Interpret Zone-of-Inhibition MICUse culture and antibiotic evidence to interpret zone-of-inhibition / mic.Explain Antibiotic MechanismUse culture and antibiotic evidence to explain antibiotic mechanism.Argue StewardshipUse culture and antibiotic evidence to argue stewardship.Apply Aseptic TechniqueUse infection evidence to apply aseptic technique step by step.Culture and Count ColoniesUse culture and antibiotic evidence to culture and count colonies.Explain Resistance Gene SpreadUse culture and antibiotic evidence to explain resistance gene spread.Interpret An AudiogramUse hearing or immune-response evidence to interpret an audiogram.Model Vaccine Immune ResponseUse infection evidence to model vaccine/immune response step by step.Calculate Herd Immunity ThresholdsUse hearing or immune-response evidence to calculate herd-immunity thresholds.Clinical Reasoning 2: Read the vital signsFour numbers, four bands. Learn what sits outside a band, what a pair of moving vitals says together, and the standing-up pattern that reads volume loss.Clinical Reasoning 3: Take the history firstMost diagnoses are sitting in the patient's own account before any test is ordered. Learn the chief complaint, the follow-up question, and why doctors ask about systems you never mentioned.Clinical Reasoning 4: Cluster the findingsRaw findings are a pile. Grouping the ones that travel together, and refusing to force the one that does not, is the step that turns a pile into candidate causes.Clinical Reasoning 5: Rule out the worst firstThe most likely explanation is not the first one to check. The one that can kill is. Learn why danger, not probability, sets the order of elimination.Clinical Reasoning 6: Build the differentialThe centrepiece of the ladder. Turn a cluster of findings into a short written list of rival explanations, rank it, and let new evidence move the ranks.Clinical Reasoning 7: Order the test that separatesA test earns its place by splitting the differential: rival candidates should predict different results. Match the tool to the question, then break ties on risk.Clinical Reasoning 10: Narrow the list with resultsResults arrive; candidates fall. Strike what a result contradicts, hunt findings that rivals predict differently, and know the two conditions for committing to a working diagnosis.Clinical Reasoning 11: Present the caseReasoning that cannot be presented cannot be checked. Carry findings, candidates, deciding evidence, diagnosis and plan in that order, then translate it for the patient without losing the evidence.
Unit 2
Read A PedigreeUse a genetics model to read a pedigree with clear limits.Interpret SNP DataRead a SNP table: compare alleles across people to find where two individuals differ or which SNP tracks a trait.Write A Genetic Counseling MemoStructure a genetic-counseling memo: state what the test shows, what it cannot prove (the limitation), and the recommended next step.Diagram A PCRDiagram a PCR cycle: order the three steps (denature, anneal, extend) and label what happens at each temperature.Interpret Gel BandsRead a gel: smaller DNA fragments travel farther (lower). Compare a band to the labeled ladder to estimate its size.Read A MicroarrayRead an expression microarray: each spot is a gene; the signal color tells you if it is up- or down-regulated versus a reference.Interpret An Expression Heat MapRead an expression heat map using the legend (red = high, blue = low) to tell which gene is up or down in a sample.Compute Fold ChangeUse molecular-test evidence to compute fold change accurately.Separate Risk From DiagnosisUse a genetics model to separate risk from diagnosis with clear limits.Compare Viral VectorsCompare AAV, lentivirus, and adenovirus on integration, payload size, and immune response to pick the best vector for a stated need.Distinguish Somatic vs Germline EditingUse gene-therapy evidence to distinguish somatic vs germline editing with ethical limits.Argue A CRISPR Ethics CERBuild a CER: identify the claim, the strongest evidence, and the reasoning in a CRISPR-ethics case, and pick the best-supported claim.Synthesize Testing to TreatmentUse molecular-test evidence to synthesize testing-to-treatment accurately.Evaluate Validity ReliabilityJudge whether evidence is trustworthy enough and name what limits the claim.Plan Treatment From DataUse patient evidence to plan treatment from data without overclaiming.
Unit 3
Relate Cancer to Loss Of RegulationWrite a short claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph from a small set of data.Classify Tumor TypesUse cancer evidence to classify tumor types from cell regulation through treatment planning.Build A Diagnostic WorkflowUse cancer evidence to build a diagnostic workflow from cell regulation through treatment planning.Compare Treatment OptionsUse cancer evidence to compare treatment options from cell regulation through treatment planning.Interpret StagingUse cancer evidence to interpret staging from cell regulation through treatment planning.Recommend A Treatment PlanUse evidence to recommend a treatment plan in a biomedical case.
Unit 4
Trace A Recombinant Protein WorkflowOrder the steps of making a human protein with recombinant DNA: gene to plasmid to host cells to expression to purification.Apply HLA Transplant MatchingUse organ-failure biotechnology evidence to apply hla/transplant matching.Compare Tissue Engineering OptionsUse organ-failure biotechnology evidence to compare tissue-engineering options.