BIO-1151 - FALL 1999 FR/01 Human Heredity: A User's Guide Dr. Louise A. Paquin	SCI 200; 410 857-2402 Office Hours: Tu 2-4:30; F 1-3 E-mail: lpaquin@mcdaniel.edu

Did you ever wonder :

who you look like and why?

whether some trait in your family is due to genes?

why weíre spending billions of tax dollars on the Human Genome Project?

whether, when and if you have children, you should consider prenatal diagnosis?

whether itís OK to eat genetically engineered vegetables?

why everyone is worried about cloning?

whether cancer is genetic?

 

 

If so, this is the course for you!

 

It is a course for the student who is NOT a science major; it only assumes youíve had high school biology (although anything else will be a plus).

 

Taking a course in science when you don't necessarily expect to major in one of the sciences is not just to fulfill a Basic Liberal Arts requirement or to find a palatable freshman seminar topic! Scientists approach problems in a specific manner, obtain and analyze data in a particular fashion, and always proceed on the assumption that today's theories are subject to alteration should new evidence become available.

 

This course has as its primary aim to introduce you to this particular approach to reality and its historical and philosophical perspectives. It also aims to supply you with a spectrum of areas of inquiry in human genetics and evolution so that you can use this information as background for the kinds of decisions about scientific issues you are or will continue to be faced with in the press, as a citizen, and as an individual human adult, a consumer of genetic areas of health care. In the past few weeks and months alone, the discoveries, progress, and major events in human genetics have been numerous; probably there will be major breakthroughs while you are taking this course.

 

 

 

Course Requirements: Note: These are the minimum requirements for satisfactory completion of this course.

 

1. 60% of the total points during the semester. There will be 3 tests (see schedule) and a final exam. The final will include material since the previous test as well as a section which allows you to integrate material from the whole course. Quizzes may be expected at any time.. Tests will generally be 100-160 points, the final approximately 220 points, and quizzes 10-25 points.

2. Read and report briefly on recent scientific articles about human heredity. At least one such article per week of the course must be read. For each one, a page with bibliographic reference, summary or brief comments must be handed in on Tuesday of that week or as announced. These will be used in class discussion and should be on one of the topics for that week. Each student is responsible for keeping the reports in a coherent and organized fashion (eg a binder), to be reexamined at the end of the semester. Scientific articles should be from scientific journals as defined by the professor; they are expected to be on true articles, as opposed to 2-3 paragraph newsy items. Under no circumstances will anything from Science News or Science Digest be accepted for this course. If a newspaper article is used, you should also look for the scientific article on which it was based.

3. Write a brief paper (3-4 pages) on a particular human genetic trait or disorder. The paper should include information on the nature of the trait, its manner of inheritance, its MIM/OMIM reference number, its frequency in the population, and any currently available information (eg. where the gene is located, etc.). Topics will be chosen by Sept. 22. Paper will be due Oct. 6. 100 points.

4. Write a brief paper (3-4 pages) either on a particular application of DNA technology in current use, {The paper should include a description of the techniques used, the value of the application, and the basis for the way it works (ie is it based on DNA complementarily, on reverse transcription, on sequencing, FISH . )};

 

or a paper on the comparison between the US and some other country or global region in their use of genetic technology.

Topics will be chosen and approved by Nov 19.

Paper will be due Dec. 1. Paper will be valued as 100 points.

5. Each student will present one of the papers to the class. Which one will be determined in the first week of the course. Oral presentations should be planned to take 7-8 minutes. It is understood that you may not read the paper, read from the paper, or, in fact, read to the class other than a brief pertinent quote, if applicable. Each presentation should be accompanied by a single page hand-out for the class. The handout should include your name, the paper title, at least one reference (your most useful), and either data, diagrams, or other information you think would make it easier for students to follow your presentation. Use of other audio-visual materials is encouraged but not required. Presentations, including handouts, are each graded on the basis of 50 points.

 

Text: Cummings, M. Human Heredity. 4th ed. West/Wadsworth , New York, 1997.

 

General Policies:

-Papers or assignments submitted late without prior excuse will lose one full grade; after further passage of time, additional grade reduction may occur.

-Absence on the day of a quiz without prior excuse results in a 0 for that quiz. More than three absences in the course, whether excused or unexcused, will result in grade reduction; absences will be noted at the beginning of the class. Flex absences are included.

-All papers (for #ís 3 and 4 above) must be typed.

-All papers must include:

1. Title page (including title (not just topic); date, your name, course name, my name)

2. Complete reference list (see below); remember that ideas, if not your own, belong to someone else; if you borrow them, you need to identify the owners; not to do so is plagiarism, even if you use your own words.

3. No more than 5 typos or spelling errors -- use spellcheck

4. No more than 5 grammatical or technical errors

5. Non-sexist language. Use of the generic masculine or feminine-only terms (he, himself, man or other terms such as chairman, manmade, etc.) excludes more than half of the population. The study of genetics includes knowing what the differences are! Be gender neutral and inclusive.

6. No folders or covers -- they do nothing to augment your grade.

7. One staple - preferably in the upper left corner

 

-All tests and quizzes are based on the objectives distributed by the instructor.

-All papers and assignments must include correct and complete bibliographic information; bibliography must not include Science News or Science Digest. In general, college level papers should not use encyclopedias and dictionaries as bibliographic material, although they may certainly be consulted for preliminary background. You may use any standardized format for bibliographic references, including the biology format modeled in the list of library reserves for this course.

-There is as yet no final accepted format for referencing material acquired over the internet. For purposes of this course, assume that, for me to find your source, you need to give me the same addresses, etc. that you used to find it yourself. Be careful - you need to distinguish verified material, articles even if they arenít on paper, from someoneís internet opinion or idle chat; the latter are unacceptable as sources -- donít use material that does not have an identifiable author. Use the following format:

Author, Title, URL, date.

-For purposes of this course, "recent" material is considered to have been published within the last 4-5 years.

-The Honor Code of WMC applies to all tests, quizzes, and graded assignments for this course. Your signature on the material should indicate that you are fulfilling the terms of the Honor Code.

 

 

Biology 1115 01

Fall 1999

 

LECTURE SCHEDULE

DATE	TITLE	TEXT
8/30	Course Intro.; What will you learn? Should we? Mendel, Darwin, and history	Ch. 1
9/1	Chromosomes and cell reproduction	pp. 14-33
9/3	Cell reproduction: sex cells	pp. 34-47
9/8	Chromosomes and pedigrees	pp. 66-71
9/10	Mendel's Law	Ch. 3
9/13	Problem Solving/Paper Writing
9/15	Mendel's Laws and exceptions	Ch. 4-5
9/17	Cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, and Tay-Sachs	Ch. 4
9/20	Is there such a thing as dominance?	*
9/22	Film (Life of Mendel)
9/24	Test I
9/27	Sex-linked genes	Ch. 4
9/29	Twins, genes, and environment	Ch 5
10/1	Sex determination	Ch 7
10/4	Normal Chromosomes	Ch 6
10/6	Chromosomal Syndromes	Ch 6*
10/8	Chromosomal Syndromes	Ch 6, 7
	FALL BREAK
10/13	Prenatal Diagnosis and Risk
10/15	Prenatal Diagnosis and Counseling
10/18	Reproductive Technology	Ch 13
10/20	DNA structure	Ch 8
10/22	DNA, RNA, and protein	Ch 8
10/25	Replication and Transcription	Ch 9
10/27	Test II
10/29	Proteins and human function	Ch 10
11/1	Bacterial vs Human genes
11/3	Genomics
11/5	Translation	Ch 9
11/8	Translation
11/10	Proteins and Metabolic Disorders	Ch 10
11/12	Group project	11/15
11/15	Mutation risk	Ch 11
11/17	Mutation repair	Ch 11
11/19	DNA technology	Ch 12*
11/22	TEST II
	THANKSGIVING BREAK
11/29	DNA Technology	Ch 12;13
12/1	Genes and Cancer	Ch 14*
12/3	Genes and Cancer
12/6	Immunology and genetics	Ch 15
12/8	Genes and Populations	Ch 17
12/10	Genes and Evolution	Ch 18