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Biomedical subjects

Bernard S Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to Bernard S Strauss.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

PubMed, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune as tools for teaching genetics.

An elementary course in human heredity for students not planning to major in the sciences can be based on current scientific literature and on the popular media. Examinations are constructed from questions on recent abstracts obtained from PubMed. The course is designed to promote writing skills in the sciences, and students write two papers in the course of a quarter. In the first paper, students trace the primary source of media reports on genetics and attempt to evaluate the reporter's translation. In a second paper, students write popular articles on the basis of current primary sources.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2005

Getting around.

This essay is a response to a request from the Editor for a "historical reflection" relating to work on DNA repair from my laboratory. The writing has been an interesting exercise since it made me recall the people I have worked with and some of the things we found and the many we missed. In the course of the writing, an article was published in The New York Review of Books, which argued that there is a "pervasive dishonesty in the practice of science" relating to the authorship of scientific papers. It seemed to me that the events I was relating spoke to that charge and I appreciate the opportunity to comment.

Authorship↗
PubMed2002

The "A" rule revisited: polymerases as determinants of mutational specificity.

Organisms control the specificity and frequency with which they mutate via their complement of proteins. The mismatch repair (MMR) proteins correct errors after they are made. The DNA polymerases of the cell determine the response to damaged DNA which has not been repaired by excision. Polymerase action can be considered as consisting of three main steps: addition of a base, proofreading of the added nucleotide and elongation. Each of these steps is kinetically complex and can be modulated. The modulation accounts for different behaviors of organisms in response to stress. The recent findings of DNA polymerases with properties appropriate for dealing with damaged DNA may help to account for the phenomenon of spontaneous mutation and for the hypermutability associated with immunoglobulin maturation and carcinogenesis.

Animals↗