Gilchrist Office Hours: W 8:30-9:30, Th 10:30-11:30 (sign up sheet outside office at HNS 109); online chat time to be determined first week of class: other hours by appointment please (gilchrist@ncf.edu; 359-4275; webpage at www.ncf.edu/gilchrist) Required Text: Human Genetics by Ricki Lewis
This course provides an exploration of the fundamentals of human genetics. We will get a background in some basics of how genes work, then we will examine genes in action. There will be a few film showings in the evenings, but these will be kept to a minimum. Films will be available for students to view on their own as well. Supplemental class readings will be available on reserve at the library or online. These should be used to enhance and broaden understanding of topics. Students will be expected to participate fully in class projects and in discussions. Therefore, it is necessary that materials be read before coming to class and that you attend class regularly. Group work is essential, so we will spend some time on developing small group skills. Evaluations will be based on 2 in class quizzes (on Thursdays unless noted otherwise), 2 homeworks, a class notebook (includes digital portfolio and in class projects), a current event collage and a final project. In class projects may take some time outside of class to complete. Homeworks will be due one week after they are assigned. Students are also expected to participate in online discussions through the class webBoard. Late work will not be accepted for credit. The collage will be due by the end of the first module and the final project will be presented in class during the last week of the term. The final project may be done in pairs or individually. The final project will be in the form of a poster. For the collage and final poster, a bibliography is required. The digital portfolio to accompany the class notebook should include images gathered for projects along with brief explanatory texts. A further explanation of the course requirements will be available at the class website at the following address (www.ncf.edu/gilchrist).
Week # Topics Readings/Assignments
1 Course overview, Introduction to Cells, Lorenzo’s Oil Ch 1, 2; view film1
2 Transmission genetics and the single gene Ch 3, 4; in class project on traits; Genetic Trail online at HHMI site
3 Beyond Mendel and SEX Ch 5,6 ; intersex discussion; help
session
4 QUIZ Multifactorial Genetics Ch 7; in class project on handedness;
"Creation of the Sinister: Biological
Contributions to Lefthandedness"
(hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/
vol2/left.html)
5 HMWK DNA and chromosomes, Methuseleh Syndrome Ch 8, 9; view film
6 Genes in action Ch 10, 11; HHMI online readings;
"Drunken Flies Mimic Human
Behavior " (library)
7 Population genetics Ch 12; start plant projects
BREAK
9 QUIZ DNA and chromosomes Ch 13, 14; help session
collage presentation
10 Human Origins and Cancer Ch 15; in class project; "Shuttling
Between Species to Make Sense
of the Human Genome" (library)
11 HMWK Immunity and Cancer Technology Ch 16, 17; "Cancer: Clues from Yeast's
Cell-Division Cycle" (library)
12 Genetically modified organisms and gene therapy Ch 18, 19; in class project on
population (using M&Ms);
online video HHMI
13 Genetic Counseling, Reproductive technology and DNA Detective Ch 19, 21; view film, help session
14 Genetics and Agriculture, Genomics and beyond Ch 22, 23; "Interbreeding can exacerbate
the well-known threats to rare species"
(library)
15 Class poster presentations and wrap up
Notebooks and final project bibliographies will be due by 5 PM on the first day of finals week.
*Current event collage: each student should put together a collage of newspaper clippings, abstracts from the web, information from popular magazines, etc to illustrate an aspect of human genetics. For instance, a student interested in albinism in a past class put together a series of newspaper clips and magazine articles about a rare albino alligator in captivity, the colony of albino squirrels in Sarasota, pictures from the Ringling Circus Museum on a sideshow featuring an albino, and some web abstracts on medical problems of humans associated with different types of albinism. Another student focused on eugenics and popular myths about genetics, drawing information from Mensa Magazine, the New Yorker, and advertisements for phamaceuticals. The collage should be at least 60x90 cm (projected linearly). Students in the past have presented 3D or kinetic collages with moderate success. The most successful non-planar format seemed to be in the form of a mobile. The collage should have somewhere (back or front) your name, a paragraph or two about the genetic aspects of the collage, and any bibliography that is needed for the material.
1For each film that is viewed, at least the following information should be included in the class notebook: Title of film, date, description of genetic question(s), ethical (eg reversibility--would you want the outcome for yourself and universality--should the outcome apply to everyone) and legal issues (if relevant), science/scientist portrayal (advocacy?, evil?), cross cultural sensitivity, and questions that arise from the film.
Creating the class notebook
The notebook is a written and visual record of activities for the class. Each of the class exercises should be recorded in the notebook.
We will have available a digital camera for in class activities. I will download the pictures and put them on a CD for students to use. There should be a written summary of results and conclusions from any of the in class activities. When we create class lists of results, you should discuss your results as a subset of what was found in the class.
For each film at least the following information should be included in the class notebook: Title of film, date, description of genetic question(s), ethical (eg reversibility--would you want the outcome for yourself and universality--should the outcome apply to everyone) and legal issues (if relevant), science/scientist portrayal (advocacy?, evil?), cross cultural sensitivity, and questions that arise from the film.
Websites that will be useful in the class
www.kumc.edu/gec/support This is the site for genetics and rare conditions at University of Kansas Medical Center. The site contains several useful links as well as information on genetic disorders worldwide.
www.hhmi.org/genetictrail The Howard Hughes Medical Institute site is excellent for a variety of topics. You will read the publication Genetic Trail which can be done online or you can download a copy from the site. You should look around on the site for other articles and videos as well.
www.nsgc.org The National Society for Genetic Counseling site is a very good resource for examining social and biological issues of genetics. There is information as well on Counseling as a career.
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/ There are multiple articles at this site on how to define sex from a genetic and social perspective. There are individual case studies offered of intersex individuals who were sex assigned at birth. The article by Fausto-Sterling will form the basis of one of our discussions. The intersex spectrum article by Gold is a very good explanation of the different types of sex variations that occur in humans.
www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nirehg.htm Ethical and social concerns are paramount to many researchers. The National Institute for Bioethics has a collection of articles and resources focused on medical ethics and biomedical research. Some of the highlight papers are on human gene therapy and eugenics. In addition, you can gain access to a searchable database on bioethics through this site.
www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/news.htm The root site for this is the NIH website. The NIH site has extensive information on genetics. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke is the final address given here. It had an alphabetized list of disorders as well as references that will be useful.
www.genome.gov/ This is the official government site for the human genome project. There are several links that will take you to biological and ethical issues associated with the project. We will use two parts of it in the class specifically. First, we will use the video on the human genome project and second we will read the essay on the implications of the project for medical science. You should note that there are numerous other sites on the project that are not associated with the federal government. Some of these other sites contradict information at the government site, especially dealing with ethical and social impacts of the project.
rarediseases.info.nih.gov/info_center.html The NIH site for rare diseases has an alphabetical listing of specific diseases.
www.rarediseases.org The National Organization for Rare Diseases has a somewhat different view of how rare disease legislation is functioning. It is an interesting contrast to the NIH site.
www.colostate.edu/programs/lifesciences/TransgenicCrops/ The Colorado State University site on transgenic plants gives a good overview to the topic of preparation and uses.
www.cropchoice.com/ This website is an interesting contrast to the Colorado State University site. There are several popular literature articles on problems with GMOs. There are also articles in trade journals about problems that farmers have encountered with modified crops. Some articles are also referenced on splicing pharmaceuticals into crops.
www.sciencemag.org/feature/plus/sfg/ Science magazine has a series of websites to assist people in understanding advances in sciences. The site on functional genomics offers a variety of news articles currently in newspapers around the country. In addition, there are recent scientific articles that might be of interest to the average reader.
www.genomics.cornell.edu/ You will want to visit this site for a variety of reasons. It is an excellent site to give a broad understanding of the art and science of genomics from microbes to humans. Ethical and social issues are also featured on the site. There are several different researchers that can be reached via the links. The site is also interesting in examining the direction of future research. Cornell is putting a big push on creating a virtual gateway (portal) for genomics study. This will be "big science" supported by both corporations and the federal government.