DNA educational software

OnScreen Science today introduced , an interactive computer model of the DNA double helix designed to give students a thorough understanding of the three-dimensional structure of DNA. The software provides on-screen activity guides to lead students through an exploration of the essential structural details of DNA, while enabling them to rotate the model on the screen and to identify component molecules and chemical bonds with a click of the mouse promotes the learning of technical names in their proper structural context. OnScreen DNA Lite also includes on-screen tests with results that can be saved to provide valuable feedback to teacher and student, as well as to aid in student evaluation. Available for Mac OS X 10.3 or later, a single license is $50, while 10-license bundles are available for $175.

OnScreen DNA Lite provides a virtual model on the computer with thirty-five base pairs, color-coded and correlated with a separate on-screen linear representation of the sequence of nucleotide bases, thus providing an economical alternative or supplement to a physical model, and with the additional power of being able to simulate processes that involve separation and reconnection of DNA strands.

Concepts that can be difficult to grasp, such as the polarity and handedness of the DNA strands and the location and physical basis of the major and minor grooves in DNA, are made clear by the easily followed on-screen guides that are correlated with student observations and virtual manipulations of the model. Simulations of the denaturing (separation of strands) and renaturing (reconstitution of double helix) of DNA are also included.

by MacNN Staff