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Updated: Jul 24, 2026

Navigating MARRVEL, a Web-Based Tool that Integrates Human Genomics and Model Organism Genetics Information
Published on: August 15, 2019
PubMed, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune as tools for teaching genetics
1Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and The Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. bs19@uchicago.edu
Abstract:
An elementary course in human heredity for students not planning to major in the sciences can be based on current scientific literature and on the popular media. Examinations are constructed from questions on recent abstracts obtained from PubMed. The course is designed to promote writing skills in the sciences, and students write two papers in the course of a quarter. In the first paper, students trace the primary source of media reports on genetics and attempt to evaluate the reporter's translation. In a second paper, students write popular articles on the basis of current primary sources.
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