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MITx: Genetics: Population Genetics and Human Traits

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How do we know what we know about heredity? Enhance your scientific thinking and experimental design skills with this in-depth adventure through genetics.

Genetics: Population Genetics and Human Traits
5 weeks
4–6 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Enrollment closed
Future dates to be announced

About this course

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This is the third genetics course in a three-part series. Building upon the concepts from biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology from our 7.00x Introductory Biology MOOC, these genetics courses go to a new level of depth. How do we determine the content of genomes? What can allele frequencies tell us about the genetics of different populations? And why does this matter to human society?

Professors Mary Gehring and Olivia Corradin will challenge you to expand your understanding of genetics. You will study the content of genomes, quantitative methods for studying traits, and the impact of genetics on population structures.

We developed the 7.03x Genetics series with an emphasis on:

  • Developing your scientific thinking skills including articulating hypotheses, designing experiments, performing thought experiments, and interpreting data.
  • Using data based on real scientific experiments and highlighting the scientific process in assessments.
  • Demonstrating that biology is an active field that changes daily through examples of research and relevance to medicine, not static information in a textbook.
  • Uniting themes and principles that inform how scientists conduct and interpret research.
  • Implementing the science of learning in the course design.

At a glance

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  1. How to appreciate the applications of genetics to everyday life.
  2. How to apply terminology appropriately to concepts in genetics.
  3. How to justify the use of specific sequencing methods for answering genetic questions.
  4. How to interpret the patterns and driving forces of genetic variation within and between human populations.
  5. How to analyze results from genome-wide association studies.
  6. How to use a quantitative approach to determine genetic features of different populations.
  7. How to explain the impact of genetic tools on human society.
  • Genomes and DNA Sequencing
  • Population Genetics
  • Genetics of Quantitative Traits
  • Human Genetics

Frequently Asked Questions

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How can I take related biology courses from MIT?

The other MITx Biology courses run throughout the year. Check out the MITx Biology website for more details and registration links.

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

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