Duration : 18:10     Year : 1988     Code No.240

This programme deals with an aquarium, its maintenance and the variety of fish that can live together. The programme goes further where fish and plant community is taken as a symbol to reflect on our society. The aquarium seems to be self- sufficient. But this small community of fish and plants depend very much on us for their existence. The aquarium is a world within a world. An aquarium, a household and a nation are all open systems. They are inseparably interlinked and depend on each other for survival.

Lysosome - The Great Destroyer

Duration : 19:35     Year : 1988     Code No.246

Dr. Robert Wafeux, part of the team that won the Nobel Prize for discovering the Lysosome, speaks of this mighty destroyer and how it functions in our body. This programme begins with a basic explanation of the cell, necessary to the understanding of the subject, and concludes with the function of Lysosome in our body.

Modern Genetics And Human Welfare - 1: What Are Genes?

Duration : 20:30     Year : 1989     Code No.263

This is a lecture series on Genes. Dr. A. K. Sharma, one of the greatest researchers in the subject, deals with various aspect of genes. Genes are the material of heredity, but the understanding of their substance has changed over the years. It has been a fascinating voyage of discovery right from the first impetus which came from Darwin's doctrine of Evolution to the modern understanding based on the double helix model developed by Wilkins, Crick, and Watson. This programme defines the gene.

Modern Genetics And Human Welfare -2: Chemical Nature Of Genes

Duration : 25:34     Year : 1989     Code No.664

Each and every character of living beings is the ultimate expression of a series of chemical reactions triggered off at the gene level. After much debate, scientists decided that it was Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) which satisfied all the criteria of a gene, that is, the property of autocatalysis, hetero catalysis and mutation. In this part, we see how they came to this understanding.

Modern Genetics And Human Welfare -3: How Does A Gene Act?

Duration : 22:56     Year : 1989     Code No.665

The properties of autocatalysis and hetero catalysis are crucial to genes. We also examine how genes control characters by controlling the nature of specific enzymes. This gives us evidence that DNA might act as a master template.

Modern Genetics And Human Welfare - 4: Mechanism Of Function: Genetic Code No.

Duration 18:50     Year : 1989     Code No.266

This part deals with the mechanism of Genetic Coding. The entire language of heredity is contained in just four alphabets A, T, G and C (Adenine, Thiamine, Guanine, and Cytocine). The way these four are combined determines all the characteristics of a human being. But how are they combined? The basis of the genetic Code No. is contained in two processes within the cell - transcription and translation.