13.1 Overview of Information and Evolution

This portion of the text covers the two Modules of BIOL 1B: Information and Evolution.

• In Module 1- Genotypes and Phenotypes (Chapters 14-16), we examine how the genetic blueprints encrypted in DNA and RNA are decoded into the structures that do the work of life, and how those structures (proteins) function to do the work of the cell. We examine how genetic information is copied and translated accurately and what happens when it’s not. We then examine how genetic variation at the individual level exists inside the context of variation at the population level, and how the forces of evolution, including natural selection, result in genetic change in populations over short and long-time scales.
• In Module 2- Relationships (Chapters 17-18), we explore how genetic information is copied accurately during cell division within an organism, and what happens when there are errors in that process, and how those errors lead to cancer. We then apply our understanding of DNA and molecular genetics and processes of evolution to map phylogenetic relationships between groups of living cells and organisms.