Genes & Inheritance

School Science Review,
Volume 90, No. 332, March 2009.
Reviewed by: Chris Clegg,

Genes & Inheritance. (2005). CD-ROM. Distributed by Biozone International Ltd., PO Box 13-034, Hamilton, New Zealand. The cost is $199.95, which includes a comprehensive site license. (note that this CD-ROM is also available in a Genetics & Evolution Bundle.) For further information visit http://www.thebiozone.com/media.php.

System Requirements:

Genes & Inheritance is appropriate for advanced high school or introductory undergraduate biology lecture presentations. The PowerPoint and Keynote media files can be edited and customized for easy preparation of multimedia presentations. The presentations can be viewed with a digital projector, with an interactive whiteboard, as overhead transparencies (files can be printed), or on a computer network. Although the media complements the content of the Genes & Inheritance, a modular workbook, and Senior Biology 1 and Senior Biology 2, student resource and activity manuals from Biozone, they can easily be used as a stand-alone product to complement lectures concerning genetics and inheritance concepts. There are 388 different screens that present critical concepts. The content of the Genes & Inheritance CD-Rom is divided into the following five sections:

    • The Genetic Code
    • Mutation
    • The Nature of the Gene
    • Inheritance
    • Gene Interactions

Each section contains editable PowerPoint? and Keynote files, a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat?, a QuickTime? slideshow, and a folder that contains the files of the individual components that were used to create the presentations. I will focus my review on the PowerPoint? presentation format.

The concepts are presented with labeled diagrams and descriptive text on thoughtfully formatted slides. Bullets are used to organize text and bold text is used to identify important vocabulary. The diagrams and the associated labels are introduced to the slide with simple animations. The animations allow the concepts to be constructed from the simple components to the more complex ones and to reveal the sequence of a process, for example, the steps of translation for protein synthesis. There is also a good balance of excellent diagrams, photographs, and micrographs, which are essential to the presentation of the concepts.

The inheritance section has the most slides. Asexual and sexual reproduction, Mendelian inheritance, human hereditary, genetic crosses, multiple alleles, human blood groups, pedigree analysis, genetic counseling, inherited disorders, and sex determination in animals are just a few of the important topics that are presented in this section that would help students gain an understanding of critical concepts.

Genes & Inheritance is high quality lecture material that is simple to use. The excellent graphics help to capture the attention of the students. Animation for the individual components helps students to understand concepts, keeps their attention throughout the presentation, and prevents their frustration from viewing too much content in one view. I recommend this CD-ROM as a resource for creating multimedia lecture presentations of genetics concepts.