Summary: Why are girls entering puberty at progressively younger ages? Why are the rates of heart attack, cancer, and adult-onset diabetes rising? This program examines growing indications that food affects our genes-a concept vitally important to the science of epigenetics. Viewers encounter a wide range of experiments, case studies, and historical evidence, including Dutch birth records and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Even as some governments and activists work to prevent human cloning, it can be assumed that, in a laboratory somewhere on this planet, scientists are moving closer to cloning a human being. This program offers an extraordinary and at times unsettling look at rapid advances in what is perhaps the most controversial area of genetic science. Both sides of the ethical debate over cloning are...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Our body is composed of billions of cells, but how does each cell know what to become? This program starts with the nucleus of a single cell and then explains the other components the cell needs to function: chromosomes, genes, DNA, and ribosomes. From hair color to height, our genes determine who we are. This program explores, through animated graphics, all of the basic genetic building blocks...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: When you look at a family photo, the resemblances, even across several generations, can be striking. What role do genes play, and why aren't siblings identical (and why are some)? This program explains how the formation of sex cells, from the first gamete to chromosome pairs, determines our genetic makeup. Deviations such as cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, achondroplasia, Klinefelter...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program offers an overview of genetics and cloning as they occur both in nature and in the laboratory while addressing the ethical and social implications of genetic engineering. Genes, chromosomes, and DNA are identified, and the process of cell fertilization is demonstrated. Identical human twins are presented as an example of naturally occurring clones. The synthesis of human insulin...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: How far should people be allowed to go in trying to have better babies? And whose definition of “better” should prevail? This Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Dateline NBC correspondent John Hockenberry considers the ethical dilemmas facing individuals and society that grow out of prenatal testing and genetic options that may be available in the future—such as cloning. Panelists include...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How accurate is the term "identical twins"? Can a cell-for-cell likeness between two siblings really exist? And what does that say about the supposed uniqueness of each human being? This program examines the genetics, physiology, and psychology behind such questions as it presents fascinating real-world case studies of identical twin development. Viewers meet monozygotic twins raised apart and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of Australia's most distinguished scientists, Dr. Alan Trounson administered early IVF fertility treatments and is now an internationally recognized leader in stem cell research. In this extended interview, he reflects on a range of research techniques and genetics issues-including gene expression and epigenetics; real-world applications for genetics and epigenetics; triggering...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: From hydras to humans, every organism on Earth can trace its ancestry back to the first primitive cell. Will biotechnology one day create a cell outside of that family tree? This program looks at 21st-century genetic science and its search for the secret of life's creation. Background information highlights the Oparin-Haldane Hypothesis and its vision of a prebiotic soup as well as Stanley...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: This clinical though often emotionally charged program challenges one of the most seductive and controversial ideas in all medicine: gene therapy. Scientists once thought its concept beautifully simple: remove the defective genes and replace them with healthy ones. Research was thought to advance when Dr. James Wilson determined that the best way to transport the healthy genes into the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Some of the most fascinating research in genetics today involves mutagens-physical, chemical, and biological agents capable of altering the structure of DNA. This program looks at the characteristics and behavior of mutagens and shows how they are prevalent in the world around us-for example, in the form of UV radiation, cosmic rays, and some radioactive isotopes, as well as synthetic chemicals...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Despite their shared genetic makeup, some "identical" twins don't appear identical at all-raising important questions about the role of environment in human development. This program explores several ways in which monozygotic twins grow and change on separate paths as well as the epigenetic, anatomical, and psychological factors involved. With the help of 4D scanning and CGI graphics, viewers...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Providing a balanced look at a highly contentious issue, this program takes viewers inside the scientific, religious, and philosophical debate over embryonic stem cell research. Divergent opinions and perspectives are presented by respected researchers, thinkers, and stakeholders-including renowned Australian geneticist Dr. Alan Trounson; Father Norman Ford, a prominent ethics commentator and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Imagine a future in which physical strength and assertiveness are the top-selling items on "baby menus." This program explores that possibility and other frightening implications of market-driven genetic engineering. Showing how the government-funded Human Genome Project has become highly lucrative for pharmaceutical companies, the video examines cases of exploitative gene harvesting in Iceland...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: PGD, or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, allows doctors and parents to screen brand-new embryos for genetic diseases. This program illustrates the PGD process and what it implies-from lifesaving medical solutions to what many see as the Nazi-esque disposal of life. The experiences of couples considering or undergoing PGD are featured-including the story of Leanne and Stephen, who ignited...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: James Watson and Francis Crick's 1953 discovery of DNA's double-helix structure paved the way for the astounding breakthroughs in genetics and medicine that marked the second half of the 20th century. How did they do it? Watson - a Nobel Laureate and former head of the Human Genome Project - opens TED2005 with the frank and funny story of how he and Crick hit upon the structure of DNA and then...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although the impact of genetic research on human life is an ever-changing and often theoretical prospect, our current knowledge of the human genome already has direct, real-world applications. This program looks at several ways in which genetic breakthroughs have improved health care technology and enriched the study of human physiology. Case studies focus on DNA screening and its benefits-for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Could we all be descendants of an Adam-like ancestor? And if he existed, who was he, where did he live, and what did he look like? This program uses sophisticated DNA testing methods to, in effect, trace humanity's family tree. Guided by renowned geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells, viewers learn about the primary tool that propels this quest for a common ancestor-the Y chromosome, which is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: From the promise of eliminating genetic disease to the threat of eradicating human diversity, the potential of genetics to benefit humankind is matched only by its capacity for harm. Using interviews, archival footage, and period film clips, this insightful program traces the history of genomic research and its dark offspring: behavioral genetics, eugenics, and the commodification of children....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program from The Doctor Is In demonstrates amniocentesis and ultrasound; outlines the advantages of knowing in advance that certain medical procedures are required to save a newborn, and the burden on parents of having to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy; and shows the advantages of avoiding cigarettes and alcohol during pregnancy.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: When it comes to DNA science, nobody has a better track record than Jim Watson; what makes him controversial, however, is his vision of its future. This program looks inside the Pandora's box of genetic manipulation with the man who opened it. Watson serves as guide, exploring some of the current and proposed ways scientists are improving humankind. He also addresses some of his critics,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program discusses the Human Genome Project, gene-related medical research, and beneficial and potentially dangerous applications of genetic technology both to humans and to plants. Efforts to fight disease through gene therapy and recombinant DNA technology are addressed, as well as research into genetically controlling cancer and organ transplant rejection. The risks of agricultural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The search for a magic bullet against cancer and AIDS is leading to recombinant technology-to explain the nature of the disease problem, help the body's immune system destroy the invader, and accelerate recovery from treatment. As more diseases are being nearly wiped out, more disease-resistant bacteria and viruses are turning up. Vaccine developers are using genetically-engineered vaccines to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Will human cloning provide a panacea for ailments and diseases or usher in a nightmarish world of eugenics and designer people? This program presents an in-depth exploration of the ethical concerns regarding human cloning, a technology that has already prompted heated debate over its potential uses and abuses. A variety of perspectives are canvassed from the theological, legal, and scientific...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005