The vegetables of genetics

Today I’m working on revisions for my DNA class at IAABC, which starts Monday, April 24. This will be the second time I’ve offered this class; it’s the first in a series of four classes (which you can take in any order, so this one isn’t required for later classes). And the auditor’s price is still super low to encourage people to take it just for fun.

I’m never sure how to promote this class. Will it offer you direct insights into how to modify behavior? It won’t, of course. It will tell you what DNA is and what genes are and how at a low level DNA differences affect traits. For how to apply this stuff to behavior consulting, you should refer to the fourth class in the series, which is about behavioral genetics.

But while the fourth class has that stuff we all want to know in it, to really understand how all that stuff works you really want to take this first class. Sometimes I think of this one as the vegetables class: you have to eat your veggies before you can have your dessert. But I hope it’s not just because I’m a genetics geek that I do think this class has some fascinating material in its own right. It’s not overcooked frozen peas, it’s heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market. In later classes I’ll talk about the weird ways our DNA can affect our personalities, and in order to deeply understand what I mean, you want to know how DNA is put together and how the body reads the genetic code and how things can go wrong.

And by the way, I make sure all of my classes have something in them for everyone, so if you are a genetics geek too, come take the class for the optional resources, which have loads of articles with new research findings in which we (surprise!) realize DNA is more complicated than we at first thought, and getting more complicated the closer we look at it.

And if anyone can help me explain how to market this funny little class and explain to people that this really is stuff it’s good to know (for behavior consulting but also just for life in the middle of the Genomics Revolution) then please tell me!

Teaching genetics

Summer before last, I taught my first online classes, in introductory and behavioral genetics. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about how to teach genetics online to students with a variety of backgrounds and interests. I have since been itching to try again after redesigning the courses to take what I learned into account. In addition to my own experiences, I’m drawing on advice from Rosie Redfield’s excellent and very approachable paper on how to design a modern genetics class. She teaches Useful Genetics for EdX based on these principles, so check that out, too!

DNA being repaired by an enzyme

So I’m hugely looking forward to teaching a series of genetics courses for the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). The plan is to cover all the material that a college-level genetics course would cover, but to do it in a way that makes the material accessible to students who aren’t in college and can’t commit to a massive course all at once. So I’m planning to teach four separate courses. They will be completely modular: you can take them in any order, or take some but not all of them. If they prove popular, I hope to continue to offer them in coming years, so that students can enter and leave the flow of classes without worrying that there won’t be another chance to take a particular class.

Anyways, the first class in this series is starting January 11, 2016, online at IAABC. It’s a course in molecular genetics — what is DNA, what are genes, how in the world do these tiny little molecules deep inside your cells code for processes that make you who you are? (And your dog who he is, and your horse who he is, and...) The topic list for the class is:

• the molecular structure of DNA
• DNA replication and mutations
• transcription of DNA to RNA
• translation of RNA to proteins
• protein structure and function
• genome sequencing
• variation between individual genomes
• genetic testing for disease (how it works, how reliable it is)
• new advances in gene editing

Future classes will cover heritability (how do your parents pass genetic information on to you?), population genetics (focusing on breeds, what it means to be a purebred, and the consequences of inbreeding), and oh yes, everyone’s favorite, behavoral genetics (which you’ll be able to take without taking the others — but you’ll get more out of it if you take the others first).

More info? Sign up? At IAABC.

Questions? Comments? Requests? Bring ’em on.

Upcoming classes: Dogs! Brains! Hormones!

I have two new courses being offered online with the APDT that I’m really looking forward to teaching:

• Canine Hormones: from molecules to behavior, February 3 - March 11, 2015 (12 CEUs).  Hormones — those chemicals that float around the body to pass messages between different organs — have a lot to do with behavior. What exactly is a hormone? How do hormones pass messages around? What is the stress response, how does it work, and what does it tell us about a dog's stress levels? What about reproductive hormones like estrogen and testosterone — how do they affect behavior?

• The Canine Brain: from neurons to behavior, March 4 - 24, 2015 (12 CEUs). The brain is an incredibly complicated organ, but it’s also incredibly interesting. What do we know about the parts of the brain and which ones affect the kinds of behaviors we care about in dogs (like fear and aggression)? What kind of cells make up the brain and how do they work? When a dog is learning, what is actually changing in the brain?

Both of these classes are intended to have something to offer both for students with very little science background and those with more extensive background — all the way from “what's a hormone?” and “what's a neuron?” to “I know oxytocin is the ’cuddle hormone’ but I hear there’s more to it than that.” If you are wondering if one of these classes is right for you, comment here or email me directly and I’ll help you figure it out, but I am working hard to make sure there is something for everyone.

Most of my audience is usually dog trainers who are looking for continuing education credits, but I love getting interested dog lovers in these classes as well, and there’s a lower cost audit option for you guys.

These classes tend to be quite discussion-heavy — the best part for me is getting to talk directly with you guys and answer the questions you have about this stuff that I hadn’t thought of talking about. It is your chance to have a dog behavior researcher at your beck and call, answering your questions!

For those who just want to read stuff on this blog, note that I’ll be writing and posting most of the course materials here over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

Hope to see you there!

Dog brains!

Journal articles, stress, and anti-depressants with me and APDT

I’m teaching another online course for APDT: Analyzing Journal Articles: Pre-Natal Stress and Anti-Depressants. I’m trying something new with this one. It's just one week long. Basically, I’m going to be walking through a recent journal article that I thought had interesting implications for dogs. There will be several short lectures at different experience levels. Some will provide background in the area to students who don’t have an extensive science background. Some will be aimed at students who do know a lot of science and want to dig deeper into stuff that isn’t often covered in online courses. And some will be straightforward “what is this article about?”

It's an interesting article, about whether stress before birth can affect an animal’s personality and whether anti-depressant medication change reverse those effects. Hopefully it isn’t hard to see how this could be relevant to dogs with behavior issues.

If we don't get at least ten students signed up, we won’t do it, so go sign up now! You will get CE! If people do sign up and do enjoy it, I’m hoping to do more like this -- providing a way for dog trainers to keep up on recent research and get a better feel for what it’s like to read a scientific paper. So this is my test case. Will people be interested? I really hope so!

[ETA: Although the last time I checked, the APDT web page for this class lists it as "no CEUs," I checked with their education coordinator, and students completing this class will earn 4 CEUs. So yes, you will get CEU credit for it!]