(Note - I have only seen a demo version).
This program takes the user through a series of genetics experiments with fungi. In the first experiment, you isolate 3 strains of fungi which are mutant for an amino acid synthesis enzyme, and conduct plating experiments to determine which amino acid they require. The next experiment is to take 10 mutants for synthesis of arginine, and try to figure out what step in the synthesis process each one is mutant for by growing them on media with intermediates in the synthesis. Then you do a similar exercise using complementation tests. The last three exercises are to do a three-point cross, a tetrad analysis, and to use mitotic recombination to map genes. Each experiment is presented in a single screen, and you use the mouse to drag the items you will need for each experiment to the appropriate places (ie - drag a mutant to the petri dish, then drag different amino acids to the corners of the dish). Results are summarized for you in an onscreen table, and from these results you must draw appropriate conclusions, which the program will tell you if you got right or not. For each experiment, the program provides a few paragraphs of background at the beginning, on-screen instructions, and for some experiments it also provides one or more animations giving more background on the technique (only one animation is active in the demo).

The program is laid out very well. The main screen used for each experiment is easy to understand and attractive, and the actions you need to perform are simple, with the results shown clearly on the same screen. The instructions give the right amount of guidance and most students should be able to go through all the exercises with minimal help from an instructor. The animations (really more like highly abbreviated textbook chapters with blinking pictures) add good background information and are also quite clear, though controlling their speed takes a bit of getting used to. This program could be used as an adjunct or possibly a replacement for a fungal genetics lab, to let students try out these techniques and practice interpreting the results in much less time and without the technical difficulties of doing it for real. The one drawback to this program is that unlike some other simulated experiment programs mentioned in this FAQ, the results are the same each time, and the student is not really carrying an experiment through from an unknown start to a conclusion. Still, this program should be very good for teaching students some basic genetics techniques in a two to three hour lab.

Computer: IBM (Windows 3.1 )

Source: BioAnimate Productions, 28 Askin St., London, Ont. N6C 1I3.
Phone: 519-432-5800.
email: info@jbpub.com
Demo available from http://www.jbpub.com/vg.htm

Cost: High

Last update 22nd of January 1996