Genetics & Genomics Science Projects (24 results)
What traits are heritable? How different is your DNA from a frog's, a mouse's or even your relative's? Can your genes tell doctors what is the right dose of a medicine for your body? These are the types of questions scientists are answering with genetics and genomics. By studying individual genes as well as genomes, the whole set of DNA belonging to an organism, scientists hope to get a more complete understanding of how our bodies work and develop better disease treatments.
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Have you ever looked at two girls and thought they looked so similar that they must be sisters? What about a father and his son — have you ever seen a boy who looked just like how his father did when he was younger? We can often tell that two people are related because they appear to have several similar physical traits. This is because children receive half of their DNA — their genetic blueprints — from each parent. What about fingerprints — are they an inherited trait?…
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In a survey conducted from 2007 to 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 49% of people in the United States had taken at least one prescription drug during the past month, and about 22% of people had taken three or more prescription drugs. People are prescribed drugs all the time, but prescriptions can be dangerous because people can have different responses to drugs. These responses largely have to do with genetic mutations. Why are some genetic…
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Some characteristics, like the shape of your hairline or whether your earlobes are attached or detached, are inherited from your parents. In this science project you will see how writing these characteristics onto a family tree can help you determine how they are inherited
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Our genes are made up of hundreds to millions of building blocks, called DNA nucleotides, and if
just a single nucleotide of DNA becomes mutated it might cause a devastating genetic disease. But
sometimes a mutation actually does no damage. What kinds of mutations have to occur to cause a genetic disease?
In this science project, you will explore online genetic databases to identify how a mutation in a gene
can result in a dysfunctional protein, and how other mutations may have no effect…
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Remember going to the doctor and getting vaccine shots? It is no fun getting poked with a needle, but fortunately, a vaccine helps our immune system to develop protection against a serious illness for years to come. But what about the flu vaccine? How come there is a new one every year? This science fair project will show you why.
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Can you imagine Valentine's Day or Halloween without chocolate? Well, if you're a chocolate lover
brace yourself for the bad news. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), "Worldwide
demand for cacao now exceeds production." If there isn't enough cacao, the major raw ingredient for
chocolate, then the chocolate supply will dwindle. Hang on! Before you start rushing to the store to buy
all the chocolate you can get your hands on, a solution is already in the works. In…
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Find out the real explanation for why your parents are so weird! Here is a science project that lets you explore the internet to find out why your "DNA blueprint" is so important to health and disease. In this science project, you will use methods that bioinformatics and biotech scientists perform on a daily basis to decipher the human genome in their efforts to diagnose and treat genetic diseases.
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Over time, viruses evolve. Their evolution is influenced by both neutral drift, the natural mutation rate of the virus, and selective pressure from the hosts' immune systems. Scientists study a virus's genomic evolution—the changes at the nucleotide and amino acid level—to better understand how the virus is spreading and the clinical implications. You can use public databases and tools to do the same type of tracking and analysis of COVID-19 that scientists around the world do. …
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Have you ever tried to pack a suitcase? If so, you know that no matter how hard you try, there is a limit to the amount you can cram in, which means if you have more stuff, you need a bigger suitcase! Do you think the same principle applies to DNA in a cell? Does an animal with a bigger genome need a larger cell nucleus to store its DNA? Try this science project and find out!
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Farmers face a variety of challenges in their efforts to grow crops. One of the chief challenges is the presence of unwanted plants (weeds) that compete with the crop plants for water, nutrients, and light. If the weeds are not suppressed, they can reduce or completely eliminate the amount of food derived from the crop at harvest. In this biotechnology and plant science fair project, you will simulate the competition between crop plants and weeds, and determine whether the use of an herbicide,…
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