The Gene Machine (1/3) - Cracking The Code episode 4

http://www.medicinema.com/genetics.html
Medicinema Ltd.
From the award winning science teaching series CRACKING THE CODE: The Continuing Saga of Genetics - 9 half hour films that cover the history and basic concepts of genetics - from Aristotle and Mendel through to the new DNA-based world of genomics and GM crops - in a fresh and entertaining style.
Featuring original songs by Moxy Früvous
Produced, written and directed by Jack Micay
Major sponsor - The National Science Foundation

Episode 4 - The Gene Machine

We follow the steps by which the discovery of the double helix in 1953 quickly led to our understanding of how a gene produces a protein, using messenger RNA as the intermediary. The basics of transcription and translation are clearly explained using creative animation. Then in the 1960s came the actual cracking of the code that translates DNA codons into amino acids. We are guided by Sydney Brenner (the discoverer of the codon, messenger RNA and much else), Canadas own Nobel laureate, Michael Smith (in one of his last interviews) and Leroy Hood, the father of todays high tech DNA lab.

This episode also covers the next leap forward - recombinant DNA or genetic engineering - and the initial alarm that this caused in the 1970s among the scientists themselves, which led to public protests against this new technology. Once these initial fears were dispelled, both the biotech industry and the new revolution in DNA technology began in earnest. Also features Nobel laureates Joshua Lederberg and James Watson. 30 minutes.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Moxy Fruvous
• genetics
• science
• biology
• James Watson
• Francis Crick
• mutation
• base pairing rules
• double helix
• Sydney Brenner
• proteins
• Leroy Hood
• amino acids
• ribosomes
• RNA
• RNA tie club
• George Gamow
• the central dogma
• David Schlessinger
• messenger RNA
• codon
• transfer RNA
• anti-codon

[CollinSynyster]

I like the song at the beginning...

Just saying