On-line lectures about GMOs and not only about them
NSU will launch the first Russian-language online course on GMOs
At the same time, two more massive open online courses will be launched - on gemology (the science of precious stones) and biosensors.
The new courses expand the opportunities of those who are interested in various issues in the field of natural sciences and want to improve their knowledge by receiving them via the Internet.
The first courses of NSU on the Coursera and Lectorium platforms – "Genetics" and "Fundamentals of Virology" – gathered more than 13 thousand students in six months and received the highest marks.
– We are very careful in choosing the topics that we offer to our potential listeners. And the experience of the first two courses has shown that this is not in vain. Forming a pool of disciplines to launch in September, we tried to choose what could be not only informative, but also useful in practice. So the idea was born to give lectures on the problems of genetically modified organisms: recently, this topic has been raising a lot of noise in the media and on various forums. Obviously, the course can be useful not only for those who are seriously interested in the issues of transgenesis, but also for the widest category of listeners – a huge number of people want to know how safe what they eat every day is. [...] – says the head of the Department of Distance Education Olga Yechevskaya.
The course on GMOs is one of the first available to a wide audience of users in the world and the first in Russian.
Its authors – teachers of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of NSU Nariman Battulin, Veniamin Fishman and Alexey Menzorov – talk about the technologies of genetic modification of organisms in popular language based on the most modern achievements of science.
As Nariman Battulin, the author and lecturer of the course "GMOs: technologies of creation and application", explains, the course is devoted to one of the hottest topics of our time – genetic modification of organisms. From the lectures you will learn what GMOs are, where you can find genetic engineering products in everyday life, how modified organisms help in scientific research and drug production. It is also discussed what the use of GMOs in food threatens (spoiler: the tail will not grow).
The course will be of interest to all concerned, and especially to schoolchildren and students interested in biology. The minimum requirements are school knowledge.
The course "Biosensors" was developed by Anna Yushkova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, author of "Genetics", who has already received the highest ratings from listeners on the Coursera and Lectorium platforms.
– As organisms evolve, systems become more complex ― and the sensory world of vertebrates is not at all the same as that of a nematode or a bee. Even among the mammals close to us, there are those who are able to sense sounds, smells or light waves inaccessible to humans. Other animals can navigate using even more amazing ways – by magnetic or electric fields. Research of sensory systems allows us to solve various issues ― from evolution to medicine, and we propose to begin acquaintance with the device and functioning of biosensors – and answer at least some of these questions, – says the lecturer of the course Anna Yushkova.
Another new NSU product on Coursera is dedicated to gemology – the science of precious stones. This course is one of the most popular among students of the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics. Meanwhile, various organizations have repeatedly applied to the university with a request to read this discipline and improve the qualifications of specialists. Now the course "Precious stones: diagnostics and expertise" is available to everyone on the Coursera platform.
Training in the courses "GMOs: technologies of creation and application" and "Precious stones: diagnostics and expertise" will begin on October 3, 2016; the course "Biosensors" will be available a little later, on November 21, 2016. You can sign up for all three courses today.
Access to course materials on Coursera is free. If desired, you can purchase a certificate of successful completion of the course.
Details are available on the NSU page on Coursera.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
07.09.2016