JoinAll Case Studies
The cases alone are freely accessible. A subscription is required for access to teaching notes and answer keys.
In keyword search, list the criteria you would like to find cases. Multiple criteria can be listed separated by commas (i.e. directed, high school)
Educational levels are defined as follows: Elementary, Middle, High School, College
Types of cases are defined as follows: Analysis/Issues, Clicker, Debate, Intimate Debate, Demonstration, Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Interrupted, Jig-saw, Journal Article, Laboratory, Student Presentations, Mini-case, Problem-Based Learning, Public Hearing, Role-Play, Trial, Flipped, Game
To Be or Not to Be ... an Inhibitory Neurotransmitter
By Frank Miskevich
Jessica and George are students struggling to understand the forces which control ions moving across membranes. For the nervous system in particular, ions create the electrical signals neurons use to communicate with one another. Jessica ...
The Evolution of Color Vision in Monkeys
By Merle K. Heidemann (rr), Peter J.T. White, James J. Smith
This case study examines the evolution color vision in Old World and New World monkeys from multiple biological perspectives. This integrative approach employs both problem-based learning techniques and directed questions as students move through a s...
By Eric Ribbens
This autobiographical case study presents the story of Eric as he learns that he has a genetic eye disease, which progresses to the point that he becomes legally blind. The story is true and, in this respect, similar to another case by the same autho...
By Eric Ribbens, Andrew C. Lydeard
Did Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, have children with his slave Sally Hemings? This PowerPoint clicker case explores this controversial question as students consider the evidence for Jefferson as the father of Eston Hemings, ...
Diabetes and Insulin Signaling
By Kristy J. Wilson
Cellular signaling, otherwise known as signal transduction, is the mechanism by which cellular context and environmental situation are used to regulate or adjust cellular behavior. Multicellular organisms use cellular signaling to coordinate response...
Pharmacogenetics: How Genetic Information Is Used to Treat Disease
By Maureen Knabb
In this clicker case, two teenagers are diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the bone marrow where there is an abnormal overproduction of lymphocyte precursors. The girls' reactions to treatment are very different, however, ...
By Geffrey F. Stopper, Andrew G. Lazowski
This interrupted case study teaches probability theory and transmission genetics through their application to the conservation of the endangered Florida panther. An endangered population is unlikely to survive simply due to its small population size....
The Curious Case of the Carbon Copy Kitty
By Nancy M. Boury
After the media coverage of Dolly the sheep and pet cloning, most students in a general biology or general genetics course will have heard of animal cloning, but it is also common for them to hold a number of misconceptions about the science of mamma...
By Debra A. Meuler
This whimsical case introduces students to the topic of dorsal/ventral (DV) axis formation in amphibians. After the recent birth of a good-sized clutch of eggs, Heather Pipiens is pleased to see that most of her little larvae are doing fine, but alar...
By Kuei-Chiu Chen
This "clicker case" is based on several articles published in 2010 that determined the genealogy of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun based on microsatellite DNA analysis. The case begins with a description of the seven royal mummies found in ...
By Maureen Knabb
This "clicker" case presents the true story of a 20-year-old athlete who developed a life threatening reaction to anesthesia during a simple elective surgical procedure. His response was unexpected, but not unusual for individuals who possess an inhe...
A Family in Need: In-Class Case Study on Cancer Genetics
By Janet A. De Souza-Hart
This case is designed as an in-class, problem-based learning activity for students to learn about several innovative medical applications of molecular biology. Students assume the role of a second-year medical student assigned to work with a pediatri...
A Family in Need: Internet-Enhanced Case Study on Cancer Genetics
By Janet A. De Souza-Hart
This problem-based learning case was designed for students to learn about several innovative medical applications of molecular biology. Students assume the role of a second-year medical student assigned to work with a pediatric oncologist who has jus...
By Dylan P. Macuk, William J. Moser, Jr., Kaleigh A. Tockes, Keith A. Johnson
Since its first recorded appearance in 1996, Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) has wiped out an estimated 70 percent of the Tasmanian devil population. Scientists considered bacterial, viral, chemical, parasitic, and genetic causes before d...
Identical Twins, Identical Fates?
By Sarah A. Wojiski
This case tells the story of Elise, a college freshman whose identical twin sister has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Elise is concerned about her own risk for developing this disease. Through her research and interactions with a physici...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid, Paula P. Lemons
In this PowerPoint-based clicker case, developed for use in either a general biology or general genetics class, students are introduced to the life and work of Gregor Mendel. The initial slides set up the story as we see Mendel, who is ill, rem...
Classic Experiments in Molecular Biology
By Robin Pals-Rylaarsdam
All introductory biology textbooks, and many sophomore-level genetics textbooks as well, describe several classic experiments in molecular biology. This interrupted case study takes students through two of these classic experiments, namely, those by ...
It’s All Greek to Me: Genetics Edition
By Leslie G. Wooten
Stephania and Nikolaus Stamos are concerned about their baby daughter. They take her to her pediatrician, who immediately notices that the once bright and active child is small for her age, pale, lethargic, and has a swollen abdomen. Students examine...
Diagnosis of a Congenital Disorder
By Patrick R. Field, Paula Cobos, Cheylena Williams
This progressive disclosure case study explores the medically-related issues of a female infant born with the congenital disorder Sirenomelia, more commonly known as "Mermaid Syndrome." The case starts with a high-risk mother participating in prenata...
By Keith K. Schillo
This case explores the question of whether gender identity is determined strictly by genetics (nature) or social variables (nurture). It is based on a true story about a man who was raised as a girl and later rejected the female gender identity...
By Jianli Zhou, Peggy Brickman
FOXP2 was first identified as a human language gene when a mutated version of the gene was found to cause speech problems in the KE family in London. In 2009, a research team transferred the cloned FOXP2 gene into mice and demonstrated that the FOXP2...
By R. Deborah Overath
This interrupted case dramatizes the discovery of a Mendelian trait in humans, namely the variation in the ability to taste the chemical phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). By examining data and questions related to this trait, students will draw connections ...
By Kristy J. Wilson
Sam, a pre-med college student, routinely gets dialysis and develops a urinary tract infection. The infection is from a bacterium that the news media is calling a "superbug" from India. Sam does some internet searches to find out more information abo...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto
In this interdisciplinary case, students meet Josie, the main character, who suffers from a variety of symptoms. Students must grapple with the conflicting data presented, which ultimately leads them to a diagnosis of either porphyria or schizophreni...
By Debby Walser-Kuntz
Taylor's doctor notices she has swollen lymph nodes and an elevated white blood cell count on her routine annual exam and asks her to return for a follow-up flow cytometry test to rule out chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Students follow along as ...
By Annie Prud’homme-Genereux
Cancer is usually thought to be a disease that affects individuals. But could cancer evolve to become infectious? This case follows the research on a form of transmissible cancer that is decimating the Tasmanian devil, the world’s largest carnivoro...
By David J. Grise
In this interrupted case study, students read about a college student with phenylketonuria (PKU). Students learn how diet affects a person with PKU and how PKU is inherited. The case is designed to introduce introductory biology students to the...
By Peggy Brickman
In this "clicker" case, based on a TV drama about a family secret that only knowledge of genetics can solve, students apply what they have read and heard about genetic diseases to determine familial relationships and predict the chance that a family ...
By William Morgan, Dean Fraga
This case study follows a young couple that is consulting with a genetic counselor about their plans to have a child. Because of their family history with cystic fibrosis, they are concerned about their chances of having a child with this genetic dis...
By Annie Prud’homme-Genereux
The classic example of a human trait that behaves in a clear Mendelian fashion is human eye color. The gene that controls it exists in two forms: a dominant brown allele and a recessive blue allele....
The "Wolfman" and the Chromosomal Basis of Heredity
By Nancy A. Rice
This “clicker case” tells the story of Danny Gomez, a Mexican circus performer, and his family in order to teach basic principles of genetics and chromosomal inheritance. Five generations of the Gomez family suffer from a very rare disease called...
By Jeanne Ting Chowning
This case study investigates the applications of genetics to medicine by exploring one of the first examples of a pharmacogenetic test to enter mainstream clinical practice. Pharmacogenetics examines how genetic variations in an individual correlate ...
By Peggy Brickman
In this “clicker case,” students learn about meiosis through the real-life story of a couple who used pre-implantation genetic screening to select an embryo that was a genetic match for an older sibling with leukemia, and thus able to provide a s...
You Are Not the Mother of Your Children
By Stephen R. Cronin
This case is based on a true story of a woman whose children were almost taken from her because her DNA profile indicated that she was not the mother of her children. The interrupted case study follows the woman, her lawyer, and a research biologist ...
The Physiology of a Neurodegenerative Disease
By Christine M. Fleet
In this case, a young woman learns that her uncle has been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. She talks with her fellow graduate students to try to better understand the physiology of the disorder, along with the medical and personal implications...
By Anne M. Casper
In this case, developed for an introductory genetics class, students meet a woman whose family has a history of colon cancer. Students create a pedigree based on information from the case and discuss what it means to be genetically predisposed to can...
By Lynne H. Gildensoph, Alice M. Stanford, Deborah D. Wygal
When a 30-year-old genetic counselor learns that her 38-year-old sister has developed early onset familial Alzheimer’s disease (EOFAD), a dominantly inherited disorder that led to their father's death at age 42, she struggles with whether to underg...
By Nancy A. Rice, Bruno Borsari
In this “clicker case,” students are introduced to Abby, a college student who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. As they follow Abby’s plight, students learn about basic cellular and genetic mechanisms that are responsible for cancer form...
By Celeste A. Leander, Robert J. Huskey
This interrupted case study begins with the construction of a pedigree following an initial encounter with a clan of “blue people.” After constructing a pedigree, students decide whether the condition (methemoglobinemia) is a heritable trait. Stu...
By Karen A. Pinco
This case study was developed to complement the study of the immune system and to emphasize the crosstalk that occurs at the cellular level between B and T cells for proper immune system function. In reading the story of a young couple trying to unde...