Hello, this is Dr. Bob Wildin, I am your instructor.
No longer Tamara Williams,
at least for this module.
And I'm giving your introduction to module 5.
So module 5 is about beginning to translate
that basic genetics and biology information
that we've been learning about for several modules
into something that we actually use in the clinic.
And the topics for this module
are about genetic change, mutations,
and how they cause phenotypes.
The sets of features that we describe
in patients with genetic disorders.
It's about simple patterns of inheritance,
so-called Mendelian inheritance,
those that were described and explained by Gregor Mendel.
And about using family history
and the tool that we use to
sort of shorthand for family history, the pedigree,
in relation to Mendelian patterns of inheritance.
So, we really are sort of pulling along with us
on that knowledge of the basic genetics
and the mechanisms of gene expression and translation
to began to apply it really to things in the clinic.
Now, we delved into that a little bit last week
in the discussion board exercise.
And I thought that was really fun and productive.
You guys did great.
And I want to sort of continue that in this module.
So, there are two lectures by Tamara Williams,
and then one by me about making pedigrees.
And we'll just sort of jump ahead
and let you know that
from next week, we'll continue this overall theme,
but we're going to be talking about other
more complex imperatives,
problems, and more complex ways
to represent more complex situations
in the pedigree as well.
So, for this week, in addition to the three lectures,
you have corresponding reading assignments in the book,
and then also a required exploration
of a great, great web resource, Genetics Home Reference,
which we also touched on last week
in the discussion board exercise.
But this time, we have a complete walkthrough video
by Tamara Williams.
Now, you'll notice that the video that she made
was at a time when the look and feel of the website
was a little different.
But rest assured that the content,
the basic navigation,
and the organization of the information
is really entirely the same as it was then.
So don't get put off by that.
You have an assignment,
which consists of three case studies.
And you can use Genetics Home Reference
or other similar authoritative source to help answer those.
The level of detail in your answers
does not to need to be extensive,
but it does need to be sufficient
to really answer those questions.
If you want to see how your answers feel
to people who are non-medical,
pick some out of your friends or family
and try them out on those willing subjects.
Discussion board this week is self-explanatory.
It's a pretty busy week,
so please try to keep things succinct.
And remember that there is a Q&A board
still there this week for any questions you may have.
Finally, there is, of course, a required quiz.
So, I'm really excited to be moving more
into the clinical domain
and starting to meld those basic knowledge
that we've been developing
into talking about genetic diseases, about inheritance,
and also some of the tools that we use
in the clinic on a regular basis
to try to understand what's going on.
So, I look forward to a great week,
and thank you for now.