14.02 Principles of Macroeconomics (MIT)
This course is designed to introduce classic macroeconomic issues such as growth, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, exchange rates, technological progress, and budget deficits. The course will provide a unified framework to address these issues and to study the impact of different policies, such as monetary and fiscal policies, on the aggregate behavior of individuals. These analytical tools will be used to understand the recent experience of the United States and other countries and to a
7.340 Regenerative Medicine: from Bench to Bedside (MIT)
Regenerative medicine involves the repair and regeneration of tissues for therapeutic purposes, such as replacing bone marrow in leukemia, cartilage in osteoarthritis or cells of the heart after a heart attack. In this course, we will explore basic mechanisms of how cells differentiate into specific tissues in response to a variety of biologic signaling molecules. We will discuss the use of such factors for in vitro tissue production. We will also study the cellular mechanisms involved in the cl
11.125 Exploring K-12 Classroom Teaching (MIT)
Subject uses K-12 classroom experiences, along with student-centered classroom activities and student-led classes, to explore issues in schools and education. Topics of study include design and implementation of curriculum, addressing the needs of a diversity of students, standards in math and science, student misconceptions, methods of instruction, the digital divide, teaching through different media, and student assessment.
Author(s):
Stem Cells: Programming and Personalized Medicine
After years of relentless lab work, rising and falling expectations, and the challenge of a sometimes hostile public, Rudolf Jaenisch says, “The scenario that looked like a fantasy … has come closer to reality. We can study complex human diseases in a Petri dish and potentially contribute to therapy.” In this l
Acknowledgements
Active galaxies provide a prime example of high energy processes operating in the Universe. This unit gives an overview of active galaxies, including the supermassive black holes that power the engines at their centres, and the emission processes by which we detect and study them. It also gives practice in mathematical techniques for analysing data and theoretical models.
Studying Darwin
This unit brings together a collection of units from the OpenLearn site that would be of interest to anyone wishing to study Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection and how his work has gone on to influence other work around this theory.
"The New Epoch" and the 21st Century Imperative for Engineering History
Great civil engineers finds an aesthetic appropriate for their building’s material and structure, asserts David Billington, whose life work has been the study of some of the world’s most stunning engineering feats.
He reviews his own intellectual journey, first honoring some of his forebears, including Elt
Birth of a drug
The search for new medicinal products is one of the major driving forces behind the development and application of new synthetic methods. This unit focuses on a specific case study, which follows the development of a drug for the treatment of high blood pressure. It is a particularly good example of the application of organic chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry, and illustrates the scientific processes that are involved in the development of any new drug.
Bioengineering at MIT: Building Bridges Between the Sciences, Engineering and Health Care (Part Two
Glycomics, the study of sugars’ role in living systems, is a relative newcomer to the revolution in molecular biology. In fact, Ram Sasisekharan remembers how colleagues told him “not to work on carbohydrates -- that it was useless.” But his research has shown that glycans, observed as long chains or intricat
Change Your Mind: Memory and Disease
How do we distinguish our friends from foes? How does dementia destroy memory? And how can past experience invade the present with destructive force? Scientists are closing in on the biochemical roots of these neurological puzzles.
Thomas Insel describes the profound impact of a small group of neuropeptides on
Biological Large Scale Integration
Though Stephen Quake’s research is confined to the smallest of scales, his achievements have already made a large impact on the study of biology. Quake’s area of microfluidics involves fabricating tiny devices akin to those a plumber uses, but useful on the molecular level. Quake modestly describes his “plumbing
Leading Change: A Conversation with Ron Williams
In what Dean Dave Schmittlein bills as a master class, Ronald A. Williams discusses how an emphasis on new technology and application of basic values helped turn around the health care giant Aetna.
Williams’ case study begins in 2001, when he arrived to find a corporation bleeding out -- having lost $280 million in th
Modeling Human Mobility
Researchers who wish to study mobility patterns might be reaching for your phone. Increasingly, cell phones are equipped with locational receivers (Global Positioning Systems or GPS) and their bread crumb trails are opening up entirely new ways to study and predict the dynamics of travel. “We are in the GPS revolution because
Lunch with a Laureate: Robert Horvitz
As an undergraduate at MIT, Robert Horvitz did not take a biology course until his senior year. But after only six weeks into his first class with professor Cy Leventhal, he realized this was the field for him. He boldly asked for a recommendation as part of his application to grad school—in biology. “Is it too late?” he
4.3 Golden Rice in the public domain
Genetic manipulation of crops is an issue of great current interest and controversy. This unit covers some of the basic science that underpins the debate and examines the hotly contested case study of the development of ‘Golden Rice’. By looking at the science 'behind the headlines' you will acquire a clearer idea of both what is possible in GM science and what may be desirable.
2.3 From infected cells to transgenic plants
Genetic manipulation of crops is an issue of great current interest and controversy. This unit covers some of the basic science that underpins the debate and examines the hotly contested case study of the development of ‘Golden Rice’. By looking at the science 'behind the headlines' you will acquire a clearer idea of both what is possible in GM science and what may be desirable.
Autism: What Do We Know? What Do We Need?
“I’ll give you the 30,000 foot view of autism.”
Remarking that autism today, in terms of interest and funding, is like cancer was 20 years ago,
Dr. Thomas Insel provides the latest medical and scientific views on this complex developmental brain disorder. The formal definition of autism includes three main componen
4.2 The science behind Golden Rice
Genetic manipulation of crops is an issue of great current interest and controversy. This unit covers some of the basic science that underpins the debate and examines the hotly contested case study of the development of ‘Golden Rice’. By looking at the science 'behind the headlines' you will acquire a clearer idea of both what is possible in GM science and what may be desirable.
Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist
Who knew that one of mankind’s greatest scientists also worked as a gumshoe on London’s mean streets, or that this same absent-minded professor helped England fix its monetary policy from an office in the Tower of London? Thomas Levenson brings all sorts of surprises to light in his own sleuthing of a little known but significa
4.1 Vitamin A deficiency
Genetic manipulation of crops is an issue of great current interest and controversy. This unit covers some of the basic science that underpins the debate and examines the hotly contested case study of the development of ‘Golden Rice’. By looking at the science 'behind the headlines' you will acquire a clearer idea of both what is possible in GM science and what may be desirable.
