biology

Overview In this anatomy course, part of the Anatomy Specialization, you will explore the interactive relationships of the cardiovascular, respiratory and urinary systems, and the roles they play in your body. This course is a primer for the cardiovascular, respiratory, and urinary systems in...

Overview In this anatomy course, part of the Anatomy Specialization, you will be introduced to the central and peripheral nervous systems. You will learn about basic neuroanatomy, sensory pathways, motor pathways and the autonomic nervous system. The course includes illustrated lecture videos...

Overview In this anatomy course, part of the Anatomy Specialization, you’ll learn about the various digestive, endocrine, and reproductive organs, their functions, and pathways of nerves and blood vessels serving these organs. Clinical correlations and vignettes will be used to highlight the...

Overview Improve student learning in biology practical lessons There are only so many ways a student can look at an onion cell, so how do we engage students with biology practicals? On this course you will discuss the relationship between theoretical concepts and practical work, and consider...

Overview Over 500,000 people in the United States and over 8 million people worldwide are dying every year from cancer. As people live longer, the incidence of cancer is rising worldwide and the disease is expected to strike over 20 million people annually by 2030. This open course is designed...

Overview The “why” and “how” of ageing has puzzled mankind ever since it questioned its place in the universe. However, it was only after infectious diseases became more controlled and reliable food supplies became generally available, that the rapid increase of the average lifespan made science...

Overview While the human genome sequence has transformed our understanding of human biology, it isn’t just the sequence of your DNA that matters, but also how you use it! How are some genes activated and others are silenced? How is this controlled? The answer is epigenetics. Epigenetics has...

Overview Hello everyone! Welcome to advanced neurobiology! Neuroscience is a wonderful branch of science on how our brain perceives the external world, how our brain thinks, how our brain responds to the outside of the world, and how during disease or aging the neuronal connections deteriorate...

Overview Hello everyone! Welcome to advanced neurobiology! Neuroscience is a wonderful branch of science on how our brain perceives the external world, how our brain thinks, how our brain responds to the outside of the world, and how during disease or aging the neuronal connections deteriorate...

Overview For centuries we have collectively marveled at plant diversity and form—from Charles Darwin’s early fascination with stems and flowers to Seymour Krelborn’s distorted doting in Little Shop of Horrors. This course intends to present an intriguing and scientifically valid look at how...

Overview This class is aimed at people interested in understanding the basic science of plant biology. In this four lecture series, we'll first learn about the structure-function of plants and of plant cells. Then we'll try to understand how plants grow and develop, making such complex...

Overview To acquire an understanding of the fundamental concepts of genomics and biotechnology, and their implications for human biology, evolution, medicine, social policy and individual life path choices in the 21st century. Taught by Dr. Tammatha O'Brien and Dr. Raymond St. Leger

Overview The course will explore the tone combinations that humans consider consonant or dissonant, the scales we use, and the emotions music elicits, all of which provide a rich set of data for exploring music and auditory aesthetics in a biological framework. Analyses of speech and musical...

Overview Imagine if there were an organ in your body that weighed as much as your brain, that affected your health, your weight, and even your behavior. Wouldn’t you want to know more about it? There is such an organ — the collection of microbes in and on your body, your human microbiome...

Overview Introduction to Genetics and Evolution is a college-level class being offered simultaneously to new students at Duke University. The course gives interested people a very basic overview of some principles behind these very fundamental areas of biology. We often hear about new "genome...

Overview These are very unique times for brain research. The aperitif for the course will thus highlight the present “brain-excitements” worldwide. You will then become intimately acquainted with the operational principles of neuronal “life-ware” (synapses, neurons and the networks that they...

Overview In this course, students learn to recognize and to apply the basic concepts that govern integrated body function (as an intact organism) in the body's nine organ systems. Taught by Emma Jakoi and Jennifer Carbrey

Overview This course is about how the brain creates our sense of spatial location from a variety of sensory and motor sources, and how this spatial sense in turn shapes our cognitive abilities. Knowing where things are is effortless. But “under the hood,” your brain must figure out even the...

Overview Learners will be introduced to the problems that vision faces, using perception as a guide. The course will consider how what we see is generated by the visual system, what the central problem for vision is, and what visual perception indicates about how the brain works. The evidence...

Overview Learn how the nervous system produces behavior, how we use our brain every day, and how neuroscience can explain the common problems afflicting people today. We will study functional human neuroanatomy and neuronal communication, and then use this information to understand how we...