Using Virtual FlyLab for Genetics Instruction

Virtual FlyLab was designed for use in the teaching of the genetics of inheritance. It is our hope that teachers in universities, colleges, and high schools with Internet access for their students will make use of Virtual FlyLab in their curriculum. It can be used as an effective supplement to traditional lectures and laboratory exercises. Virtual FlyLab is not meant to stand on its own as a genetics tutorial.

The philosophy behind the development Virtual FlyLab is to allow students to learn the principles of genetic inheritance through the design and analysis of genetic "experiments." An exposure to the techniques of scientific reasoning is as least as important a goal as learning the genetic principles themselves. For this reason, Virtual FlyLab provides no information regarding the nature of the genetic mutations; it is up to the students to discover these for themselves.

Virtual FlyLab can be used to demonstrate the following genetic phenomena:

• Mendelian ratios for dominant/recessive traits
• modifications of Mendelian ratios due to sex-linkage
• modifications of Mendelian ratios due to homozygous lethals
• modifications of Mendelian ratios due to epistasis
• modifications of Mendelian ratios due to linkage
• determination of genetic maps from recombination frequencies

If you are an instructor who would like for more information on the genetic mutations in Virtual FlyLab, send email to rdeshar@calstatela.edu.

Virtual FlyLab Information
Welcome to Virtual Flylab
Enter the Virtual Flylab
Using Virtual FlyLab for Genetics Instruction
NEXTSTEP Version of FlyLab