Interactive computer program for learning genetic principles of segregation and independent assortment through meiosis

Teaching fundamental principles of genetics such as segregation and independent assortment of genes could be challenging for high school and college biology instructors. Students without thorough knowledge in meiosis often end up of frustration and failure in genetics courses. Although all textbooks and laboratory manuals have excellent graphic demonstrations and photographs of meiotic process, students may not always master the concept due to the lack of hands-on exercise. In response to the need for an effective lab exercise to understand the segregation of allelic genes and the independent assortment of the unlinked genes, we developed an interactive program for students to manually manipulate chromosome models and visualize each major step of meiosis so that these two genetic principles can be thoroughly understood.