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!
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!