This course is a very well versed course. It has helped me to understand from basic to the higher levels of biotechnological sciences. The professors in this course Prof. Leger and Prof. Brien have worked very meticulously each detail of the course material. The mentors like Denise Ma'am has also promptly cleared any difficulty or doubts we had by giving substantial information links. I will highly recommend this course who are willing to go for career in biological or understand biological sciences at genetic level. This course essentially covers behavioral sciences which is linked with many genetic shifts and environmental influences. Having said that Profs explain things pretty easily so that who are from non scientific background they could also enjoy. It is fun , witty and interesting. I enjoyed it :)

I'm old - DNA was discovered in my last year of undergraduate studies. I am learning a great deal about what makes humans alike and different, what drives our behaviors. The course is informative

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to learn new skills in biotechnology. I feel like my serotonin level become normal and I m really happy. my fear, low self-esteem everything is gone now .😇

Really interesting material and well taught, even entertaining at times! :0) The quizzes were detailed but not excessively hard, and did a good job of assessing if you had learning the material.

This course is great for someone who wants to learn the impact biotechnology has made in our lives and it's future prospects. The concepts covered in the course have been explained very well.

Presentation speed was fast--particularly for my low level of current knowledge. I found the presenter's continual flinging of her hair (backwards) to be quite distracting. Perhaps she could pin it back--out of her eyes?

While the information was very good I found the course to be dated (from 2012). Many of the links at the end of the weeks were no longer working. This course needs to be updated and current links provided. Some formatting changes may have been made as the weeks are off. Week 6 is actually week 7. Better examples would improve the course delivery. Many new terms are provided and a vocabulary list would be help full. I was happy I was only auditing the course.

I am a lover of the science of genetics and have some basic knowledge of the same. I joined this course with a hope to get my concepts clearer. The course is meeting with the expectations to the fullest - after just one week of exercise.

Broad spectrum over view useful to beginners as well as advanced learners. would have loved to be able to download slides along with Transcripts for later revision , Thank you UMCP and the Faculty !

super course first 4 weeks almost genetics and last 2weeks about biotech . very clear course. Raymond sir is awesome. I feel lucky after completing the course

This course did an exceptional job of providing a lay audience with a broad overview of human genetics, evolution, behavior, and associated technologies. The lecturers were engaging and have an impressively varied range of knowledge. This course lays an exceptional foundation for exploring a variety of in-depth topics covered with a more narrow focus elsewhere on Coursera (e.g., molecular biology, evolution, human behavior, neuroscience, &c).

Tammatha O'Brien’s initial lectures did a particularly good job of introducing basic genetics with accessible metaphors, without allowing those metaphors to be overextended. She was also careful to flag the caveats and exceptions where appropriate to ensure students didn’t walk away with an oversimplified narrative of molecular biology (a challenge I’ve seen in other introductory courses).

Raymond St. Leger’s passion is clear, and makes his lecturers particularly captivating. For the most part, he did a good job of flagging areas where results were preliminary (e.g., based on a single study) or speculative (e.g., based on his interpretation of the research). Nonetheless, there were some areas where it was unclear if he was presenting a well-established scientific consensus, or his own (well-informed) conjecture. In these scenarios, it would be useful to provide a more comprehensive bibliography for students interested in diving deeper into the research.

As an aspiring science communicator involved in addressing public concerns over GMOs, I was particularly pleased to not only see biotechnology covered, but also to have it effectively dispel many of the common criticisms. I’ve generally found that once a basic understanding of genetics and evolution is established, it’s a short leap to disarm most of the fears; nonetheless, I’ve now taken five genetics courses that have steered clear of even acknowledging either GMOs or their controversy. Thank you for addressing these head on.

Thank you for taking the time to put this course together and sharing it with the public via Coursera. The effort is recognized, and much appreciated.

Very good and more informative course, this course has a brief explanation for each and every topic. Lectures are very interesting to listen. Thank you so much for accepted my financial aid learning.

Excellent course, I´m starting and I have learnt a lot of concepts related with the topic. I`m so excited and grateful with The Maryland University and the Dr. O'Brien for developing this course.

I think the course is great... BUT...Why must you charge to take the quizzes?

I, like I am sure many of those wishing to take the course, live in countries where the $49. USD that is charged for a certificate can represent a significant portion of a monthly income.

It is unfortunate that you would make a decision that limits accessibility to learning based on the economic wherewithal of an individual .

I can understand charging for a certificate, but quizzes provide feedback and are an essential learning tool.

I hope that in future, your desire for profit does not interfere with the accessibility of education for the betterment of people, and thus, the world in general.

The only option I had was to watch videos, I could not submit quizzes, which I completed, unless I paid.

What's even the point of having this course as part of Coursera?

Very disappointed. Shame on the University of Maryland, College Park. Will stay away from this school.

Not being allowed to submit quizzes without paying for the course - I am withdrawing from the course and any other Coursera courses where this is the policy - I will enrol in other free online course sites where the are "free".

access only for payment and overly simple course material. unfortunate

The best course I had on coursera. It is a comprehensive overview of current biotechnological techniquess and their established and potential results.

The course keeps a shrewd balance between giving scientific information and looking at the broader more complex implications for society. You might think at times that the professor is not a scientist but a philosopher as well.

The course is taught superbly by both professor and assistant, not one extra word, and not one word missing given the choice of topics.

I think most of what is taught here should ideally be known by the majority of all people, in order to make more informed and thoughtful choices about life, as well as understanding what will happen in the next decades.

I really enjoyed this course. It was informative and thought provoking. Biotechnology has always humbled me always.. We call ourselves superior evolved organisms but one chemical group can turn us off... some organism, a virus which is not even as big as two lines of our fingerprint can kill us... I wonder if we are manipulating nature or nature is manipulating us in greater speed...I also wonder we should have stone inscriptions of our findings that can stay centuries later to tell the world of the future, our stories than software and hardware which might not stand strong against calamities...overwhelmed, humbled by all the information...

This course is a very good course. It has helped me to understand from the basic to the higher levels of biotechnological sciences. The professors have worked very meticulously. The mentors have also promptly cleared up any difficulty or doubts I had by giving substantial information and links. I will recommend this course. This course essentially covers behavioral sciences which is linked to geneticists and environmental influences. I learned quite a lot while taking this course and at the end of it I was rewarded with a professional certificate that is verified. I enjoyed every moment and had loads of fun.

Hiiiii

First of all, I would like to thank my dear professors, Professor O'Brien and Professor St. Leger and the University of Maryland, as well as Coursera and the United States, who gave me such a possibility and opportunity to get closer and closer to my dreams, i am soooooo thankful from the bottom of my heart . I am very, very excited about this victory and I am over the moon. My heart is full of hope and my eyes are full of tears of joy. I am sure that I will always show my best with you. you are incomparable. I love you all.

with best regards

Maryam Fallah Fa'al

Through this course offered by Coursera, entitled Genes and the Human Condition (From Behavior to Biolechnology), I have learned an extraordinary amount of information about a burgeoning field of scientific study.

I found this course to be well-paced and easy to follow, even though the topics discussed were quite complex. Both professors provided fantastic and enjoyable lectures; the course was like a really great book that you can't put down.

I would strongly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in learning a bit more about human genetics.

As someone that doesn't have much prior genetics knowledge besides intro science courses in college, I enjoyed this course a lot. It offered a good challenge and I felt like I learned a lot despite the complexity of the topics. The lectures were presented in a compelling way that related to day-to-day life and how humans interact. It has me excited for future developments in this field and has prompted me to do follow up research on some of the topics.

The course overall was amazing in my opinion. Each lecture video I watched made me more enthusiastic to learn, they were easy to digest and very educational. The profssors were so good that I felt personally adressed and enveloped in the course material. The more I watched the more my mind was blown. Moreover, I thought the assignments were short but to the point. They really helped me emphasise the parts I didn't pay much attention to or forgot about.

Provocative and engaging review of topics in human genetics. Requires some basic familiarity with biological principles. But well worth a personal investment in time and effort. Both lecturers are fascinating. Only recommendation for improvement would be to present sources cited in the videos elsewhere in the course materials. They roll by so quickly at the end of the video segments that it was impossible to review them adequately. Great course.