new free genetics course starts tomorrow!

[Aileen]

Like many of you, I do not have a science background and don't really understand this genetic stuff. Someone posted about free on-line courses from universities (Massive Open Online Courses -- commonly called MOOCs) I'd not heard of these so checked it out and decided to give some courses a try. Just wanted to let those of you who have had 23andMe or similar done that this is available.

Starting tomorrow from Coursera (a MOOC provider) is a course called Experimental Genome Science from the University of Pennsylvania. It states in part: "We start with the basics, DNA sequencing and the genome project, then move to high throughput sequencing methods and applications...."

Learning some basics sounds good and since we keep hearing about "high throughput sequencing" in ME research (ie Lipkin studies) I am hoping to better understand what that is. Even if that is all I get from the course, I will feel I've succeeded.

It's free to sign up, no textbooks to buy and you can drop out at any time with one click of the mouse. You can do the homework and/or exams if you want but don't have to. All it involves is watching some videos. There is no set time you have to watch. They can be accessed anytime 24/7.

Also with Coursera, starting Nov 1 is another genetics course, called Useful Genetics Part 1 offered by the University of British Columbia in Canada. It looks quite basic so I signed up for that too.

If you sign up for one of these it might be interesting to discuss the course material among ourselves so please post if you decide to try one out!

 

[maddietod]

I signed up! The first one is designed for entering graduate students.....eek !

 

[bel canto]

signed up for "useful genetics".

 

[Thinktank]

Perfect, thanks for sharing. I received my 23andme results a week ago and want to learn more about genetics. I'm going to sign up right away.

 

[Waverunner]

I also signed up some weeks ago but I guess this course at Penn will be pretty hard later on (bioinformatics etc.), so I don't know if I finish it.

 

[WillowJ]

that's really cool. I wish I thought I could keep up with something like this. Maybe another year.

 

[GypsyA]

I signed up for both...hoping the fog and ADD symptoms fade soon....this is the kind of thing I LOVE to do and always stuck with online courses before getting sick. Now, it's hard to stay on track and retain what I learn. :-/

So, we'll talk about the coursework here on this forum with each other?

XOXOXO

 

[Keela Too]

Oooo Thanks for the link. Hopefully I'll get time/energy to follow it all through.

 

[celeste]

I've just signed up. Looks really interesting - thanks for the link. I'm already panicking tho', at the prospect of having to mark other people's homework. Doubt my brain can cope with that!

 

[Keela Too]

Wasn't very impressed with the first lecturer on the Experimental Genome Science course! I love this stuff, and have taught the basic biology of genetics etc at school level, but this man was not making it interesting!

 

[Aileen]

Um ... need I say more? I got through most of the first lecture (in about 5 different attempts) but didn't really get much out of it. Will try one more and do some of the readings before giving up on this particular course.

I hope the Useful Genetics part 1 from the University of British Columbia (UBC) will be better. It starts Nov 1st.

 

[Keela Too]

I have un-enrolled.

I'm doing another one called "A Brief History of Human Kind" and it is presented in a way that suggests that the lecturer is really enjoying what he is talking about ....

 

[Valentijn]

I also unenrolled - I haven't watched any of the videos, and haven't had any spare functional-brain-time to do it. I'd already started a statistics course which I'm enjoying and is very useful to me in reading research. I think one class at a time is currently my limit

I'm looking forward to the basic classes though. Sounds like those should be fairly simple.

 

[Aileen]

I also unenroled. Over my head and he just put me to sleep.

I am taking an Intro Biology course that is being taught by an interesting Prof whose specialty is genetics. Genetics is not the entire course but it starts at week 3, with how genetics got started (now I know who Mendel was). If you want to learn the beginnings, it is okay to sign up now and you can just skip the first couple weeks. I like that you can just do bits and pieces of these courses if you like.

This course is offered by MIT and is on the EdX site. The course is called 7.00x Introduction to Biology -- The Secret of Life www.edx.org/course/mit/7-00x/introduction-biology-secret-life/1014