I'm an astronomer by training, and I love me some physical sciences. But in this brave new science journalism world I've entered, I suddenly find myself encountering biology terms like "epigenetic" and "gene expression," and I haven't taken biology since 1995. So I was grateful to find the web site Learn.Genetics, from the University of Utah. It was featured in the 29 January issue of Science as the first of 12 winners in their now-annual online educational resources contest.
The cell scale featured above is cool, but then, I've always been a sucker for Powers of Ten-esque visualizations.
What I really needed help with, though, was epigenetics. My understanding was that different genes kinda turn on and off in different cells at different times, but what causes it and what the actual, observable effects are remained a mystery. So I explored the epigenetics section.
From the introductory video, I gleaned that genes are wrapped around proteins. From the interactive gene control graphic, I learned that more tightly wound gene-protein strands turn genes "off" and thus release fewer protein signals. The page on identical twins taught me that epigenetic markers change over our entire lives, and the story of the baby rat put everything together for me, actually showing the effect of epigenetic changes on the long-term behavior of an animal.
So the information is definitely here, though like most biology teaching tools, the dual hurdles of jargon and process prove formidable. It would be nice if the gene control graphic showed what happens further down the line than the protein release, but I was able to synthesize that with the baby rat story on my own. They do a nice job, and the visualizations are actually helpful. I certainly understand epigenetics better as a result.
