Thomas R. Manney

Cell — Cell Interactions during Mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We gratefully acknowledge and thank the many people who have helped put this chapter together, especially the following: Patricia Jackson, Dan Paretsky, Lela Riley, and Verna Woods, who carried out most of the original experiments described; Dr Ken Conrow, who made the computer analysis of our data work; Drs Vivian MacKay, Wolfgang Duntze, and Mike Fox, who read the manuscript and made many suggestions that helped us say what we mean; Gloria Manney, who put our commas in the proper places; and many others, mentioned in the text, who shared their unpublished data with us.

Yeast: A Research Organism for Teaching Genetics

Modem genetics had a long incubation period: Nearly half a century passed between Gregor Mendels experiments and integration of his results and ideas into mainstream thinking in biology. Knowledge in this field is growing so fast that it is hard for research scientists to keep up, to say nothing of biology teachers and curriculum planners. Today, genetics research is providing new information that relates to many diverse societal issues, such as food production, disease, human reproduction, aging, pollution, energy, environmental modification and warfare. Since the time in the curriculum cannot grow as fast as the information, traditional topics are dropped to make room for the new. In genetics, especially molecular genetics, knowledge is built on a logical, experimental foundation that goes continuously back to Mendel. If essential elements of this development are omitted, what is left becomes technological dogma. We are no longer able to explain how we know what we are teaching. The challenge in teaching genetics in the modern curriculum, then, is to maintain the connections that form continuity from Mendel to molecules. The key is to introduce the important new knowledge and concepts in a broad biological and environmental context. Classroom use of simple modern research organisms, such as yeast, provides an effective approach. Aside from the obvious advantages of hands-on activities, it shows students where knowledge comes from and gives them an idea of what scientists really do. A Complete Sexual Life Cycle