Published in July 2012, This report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) presents the interim findings from a qualitative investigation into the impact on students of the subject-specific CPD undertaken by teachers at the National Science Learning Centre.

In 2015-16, the regional Network has been found to have sustained a strong upward trajectory in the amount of CPD that it is delivering, increasing its level of CPD delivery by 45% compared to 2014-15, and surpassing the levels of CPD delivery achieved in previous years.  

The Network has also forged new...

Published by the Nuffield Foundation, the purpose of this Nuffield Advanced Biology Laboratory Guide was to provide a coherent treatment of a series of biological topics, based on laboratory investigations. The approach throughout was centered on enquiry as opposed to...

This resource is designed to meet the specifications for the A-level practical endorsement in England (CPAC). However, given its focus on adaptation and evolution, it will make a valuable resource for those following a variety of different specifications, such as the Advanced Higher Biology Organisms and Evolution...

A Catalyst article about juvenile diabetes, a genetic disease also known as Type 1 diabetes, which affects over 200,000 people in the UK. Scientists are still trying to unravel its causes in order to develop improved treatments. This article describes what is being done to improve people’s understanding of the...

This film tells the story of how DNA sequencing was used to identify the gene BRAF. Clinical researcher Ultan McDermott tells the story of how scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute discovered a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, which is found in around half of malignant melanoma cases. He...

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute’s Public engagement...

Di-deoxy sequencing is a way to determine the order of bases (A,C,G and T) in a piece of DNA. A set of 4 lanes (one for each base) is needed to sequence any given piece of DNA. Wherever a black
band appears in a particular lane that base is present. By reading off the order of bands across the four lanes the...

Stem cells have the potential to develop into different cell types in the human body and as such, can be used for tissue repair or, perhaps in the distant...

From the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, this animation shows a detailed overview of the processes involved in the dideoxy or Sanger method for sequencing DNA. This is the method used to sequence the human genome. The animation demonstrates the principles and techniques involved in the Sanger sequencing method,...

Diagramatic representation of the replication of DNA. This is the process by which the cell makes a copy of its existing DNA before it divides. This therefore ensures that each new cell receives a full complement of DNA. The DNA polymerase enzyme can only add new bases in the 5'-3' direction. This leads to...

The aim of this activity is for students to use tiddlywinks to represent sections of jumping genes, which they then flick onto a poster which is representative of a section of the human genome. Where their "gene" lands either will or will not disrupt the gene and may then cause disease. An accompanying PowerPoint...

These materials contain a range of activities where students use real genomic data from the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to find mutations in a gene associated with pancreatic cancer. Students mark the locations of the mutations on a gene sequence banner and record the results on...

This video shows the various levels of DNA packaging and the four basic building blocks of DNA. it allows you to take a journey into the body to see where the genome is found and how DNA is packaged in the nucleus of the cell. The journey starts outside the body and takes you into the liver and a liver cell. You...

The ASE Lab Books were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title in the series covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and experimental ideas from members of the association...