Biotechnology and Social Values
Interdisciplinary Year Course for senior honor students
developed as a result of:
Transforming Curricula: Institute in Curriculum Revision: the Interdisciplinary and the
Multicultural
Georgetown University, Summer, 1995
Research completed in the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature 1995,1996.
by:
for:
Sr. Mary Jane Paolella, ascj
Sacred Heart Academy
265 Benham Street
Hamden, CT 06514
phone: (203) 288-2309 fax: (203) 230-9680
sheart@minerva.cis.yale.edu.
Text: Kreuzer, Helen and Adrianne Massey. 1996. Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology. ASM Press.
Other Required Literature: In His Image: the Cloning of a Man by David Rorvik and The Hot Zone by
Richard Preston, Gene Future: the Promise and Perils of the New Biology by Thomas Lee, or DoubleEdged Sword: the Promises and Risks of the Genetic Revolution by Karl A. Drlica.
Additional Required Readings from Scope Notes, Books on Reserve, and Articles
Use of the Internet
Course Description: This is a laboratory-based, science course with an interdisciplinary focus. It
explores the major biotechnology issues, their effects on business, the social sciences, geography,
medicine, ethics, theology, other sciences, and our multicultural society. The lab experiments have
been selectively chosen to both reinforce the issues studied as well as mathematical concepts. Labs
require the usual vee mapping and flow charts of all previous science courses.
Objectives: students will
-confront biotechnological advances through research and lab and relate these issues to
other disciplines
-apply critical thinking skills to controversial concepts
-clarify decision-making techniques, express their opinions and look beyond themselves
to others
-utilize alternative assessments to apply their knowledge: portfolios, debates, critiques
and reflection papers, concept and Vee mapping
-depend on the graphing calculator and computer for lab applications and teach, in pairs,
the use of the graphing calculator in biotechnology to another math class
-prepare posters for presentations to math classes
-work in cooperative learning teams to further develop research skills and share their
knowledge with each other in discussion in/out of class
-master the skill of debriefing and use the skill on one another
Fee: to cover lab materials
Supplementary Materials:
-graphing calculator (TI-82)
-Bioethics Forum Videodiscs
Requirements:
-notebook, folder, and portfolio
-ruler,metric graph paper, graphing calculator for mathematical applications in lab
experiments
-lab reports: V maps and flow charts
-brief refection papers and critiques on the articles and books required for class
-participation in one debate each semester
-written proposals regarding what needs to be done in the future
-one presentation to a math class
Grading and Assessment:
Students will keep portfolios which will include their notebook, brief reflections on each
issue,critiques of the articles and books, written proposals, concept maps, Vee Maps containing flow
charts for labs, and will be involved in one debate each semester. Students will also prepare a poster
presentation on the application and use of a graphing calculator for biotechnology labs.
Course Outline
I. Background Information
A. Binary fission vs. Mitosis/Meiosis
1. Twinning
2. Non-disjunction
3. Cancer
B. Influence of Culture and Gender
1. Inheritance Patterns
a. Hardy-Weinberg and selection effects
b. mathematical analysis including Chi Square
Lab: Population Genetics: application to Sickle Cella
Anemia in Africa
2. Karyotypes: genetics, crime, violence and race
3. Chromosomal Aberrations
II. Historical Controversies
A. Eugenics in US: 1875-present
1. IQ testing
2. Immigration and Nationality
3. Marriage Laws
4. Compulsory Sterilization
5. Prisoners and pharmaceutical testing
6. Lack of informed consent today
B. Eugenics in Germany 1895-1984
1. Racial Hygiene
2. Jewish Medical Postitions vs. Black women in Science/Medicine
3. Laws regarding human heredity
4. Relevance of Holocaust to current issues
5. Hypothermia experiments: inferior science
6. Personal and political dimensions
C. International Genetics Movement
D. Evolution
1. Biological to Social Darwinism
2. Social Stratification
3. Louis Agassiz: creationism and polygeny
a. craniometry and skull classification for race and gender
4. Effects of 1492 on gene pool
III. Genetic Engineering Revolution
A. Preparation
1. Influence of microbiology
2. Structure and function of Nucleic Acids: DNA and RNA
a. Rosalind Frankin's role
Lab: DNA Extraction
Lab: Separation of DNA/RNA,gel filtration 204
b. Central Dogma
c. Modification
B. Recombinant DNA Technology
1. Restriction Enzymes and RFLPs
Lab: RE Maps: mathematical applications 105
use of graphing calculator and computer
a. DNA Fingerprinting vs. Blood tests vs. Fingerprints
1. current applications to Forensic Medicine
2. Legal/Ethical/Moral Implications
3. Conservation/Wildlife Management
Lab: Southern Blot Analysis 207 (with 109)
Teach science application of graphing calculator to a senior math class
b. Maxine Singer and the Asilomar Conference
2. Transformation
Lab: 201,or,221
3. Cloning
Lab: 300
C. Human Genome Project: Maps and Dreams
1. Legal and Ethical Ramifications
2. Need for Public Education
3. Government Regulation and Public Policy)
D. PCR
Lab: PCR
*Discussion of David Rorvik's In His Image: The Cloning of a Man
IV. Consequences of Genetic Engineering
A. Gene Therapy: Legal/Ethical Moral Implications
1. Gonadal Cell
2. Germ Line
3. Somatic Cell
a. Huntington's Disease
b. Sickle Cell Anemia vs. Malaria vs. Thallasemia (cultural
conditions)
c. ADA Deficiency
B. Influence on Family Life: Reproductive Technology
1. Genetic Screening/Testing of Parents/Prospective Parents
2. Genetic vs. Contractual Model of the Family
3. Herman Mueller's Genetic Proposal of 1967
4. Impact on Women/Motherhood
5. Embryo Research and Fetal Tissue Issues
6. Wrongful Life
7. Genetic Discrimination
C. Ecological and Chemical Ramifications
1. Environmental Mutagens
2. Release of Genetically Engineered Organisms
3. Pollution Issues
a. positive effects: water pollution combatants
b. negative effects: toxic waste
4. Political and Social Consequences
5. Environmental Racism: neighborhoods of pollution
Lab: Toxicity Determinatin of Pollutants in Fresh Water 954
D. Agricultural Implications
1. Plant Agriculture
a. ice minus history and lessons
b Agrobacterium tumiefaciens
Lab: Plant Cloning 908
c. Irradiated Food
d. Insect Resistance Genes
2. Animal Agriculture
a. BST and PST
b. use of poultry for antibodies
c. Socioeconomic effects on India and developing nations
d. Third World Agriculture
e. International Trade
E. Competition in Business and Industry
1. Pharmaceuticals
2. Medicines and Vaccines:
a. Depo-Provera and effects on women
b. Tuskagee Syphilis Study on Black males: 1932-1972
c. Racial Theory and Germ Theory: Genetic Model of Race
d. testing of medicines
e. P53 gene and cancer
Lab: P53 gene
*Discussion of Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, Lee's Gene Future. and Drlica's Double-Edged Sword.
F. Patents as Intellectual Property
1. Economic Impact on Agriculture
2. Impact of Funding for Science Research
3 Military uses: Biological Terrorism and Warfare
4. Environmental Influence
5. Ethical/Moral Issues
G. Privacy/Confidentiality Issues in Genetic Testing/Screening
1. Collection and Disclosure of Genetic Information
2. Social/Cultural/Political Analysis: Genetic Discrimination
3. US Privacy Tradition: 1787-1945
4 Privacy Crisis of 1960's
5. Current Privacy Environment
Decision video
Bibliography
Amrhein,Eva-Maria and Brungs,Robert. The Vineyard: Scientists in the Church. ITEST:
St. Louis. 1992.
AAAS. Genome, Ethics, and Law. 1992
Barton, John H. "Patenting Life," Scientific American. 264(3) March 1991.40-46.
Beardsley, Tim. "DNA Fingerprinting reconsidered again." Scientific American 267(7) July, 1992.26.
Beauchamp, T. and LeRoy Walters. Contemporary Issues in Bioethics. Wadsworth Publishing Co. 1994.
Brungs, Robert A. You See Lights Breaking Upon Us: Doctrinal Perspectives on Biological
Advance. ITEST: St. Louis, 1989
Cassidy,Joseph and Pellegrino, Edmond. "A Catholic Perspective on Human Gene Therapy,"
Internat'l J. of Bioethics 4(1) March, 1993. 11-18.
Cataldo,Peter and Moraczewski, Albert. The Fetal Tissue Issue: Medical and Ethical Aspects.
Pope John XXIIIMedical-Ethics Research Center: Braintree, MA. 1994.
Catholic Heath Association. of the U.S. Human Genetics: Ethical Issues In Genetic Testing,
Counseling, and Therapy. St. Louis. 1990.
Chadwick, Ruth. ed. Ethics, Reproduction and Genetic Control. Routledge. 1992
Coleman,Howard and Swenson,Eric. DNA in the Courtroom. GeneLex Corporation: Seattle. 1994.
Council for Responsible Genetics. Genetic Engineering: Unresolved Issues. Cambridge MA. 1982.
Council for Responsible Genetics, Human Genetics Committee. "Position Paper on Human Germ
Line Manipulation," Human Gene Therapy 4: 35-37.1993.
Council for Responsible Genetics. "Position Paper on Genetic Discrimination," Issues in
Reproductive and Genetic Engineering. 3(3).287-295.1990.
Coutts, Mary Carrington. "Fetal Tissue Research." Scope Notes 21. Kennedy Institute of Ethics:
Washington, DC.
Coutts, Mary Carrington. "Human Gene Therapy." Scope Notes 24. Kennedy Institute of Ethics:
Washington, DC.
Davis,Bernard,ed. Genetic Revolution: Scientific Prospects and Public Perceptions .Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press.1991.
Deitrich,Donald. "Catholic Eugenics in Germany," J.Church & State. 34(3) March, 1992.
575-600
Durfy, Sharon and Grotevant, Amy. "The Human Genome Project," Scope Notes 17. Kennedy
Institute of Ethics: Washington, DC.
Dyson, Anthony and Harris,John. Ethics and Biotechnology. Routledge:NY. 1994.
Frankel,Mark and Teich,Albert,eds. The Genetic Frontier: Ethics, Law and Policy .AAAS. 1994.
Friedman, Theodore. Gene Therapy: fact and fiction. Cold Spring Harbor Press, NY 1994
Gould,StephenJ. The Mismeasure of Man. W.W.Norton: NY. 1981
Gould, Stephen J, "The Smoking Gun of Eugenics," Natural History. December, 1991.8-17
Harding, Sandra. The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future Indiana
University Press: Bloomington. 1993.
Hubbard, Ruth. The Politics of Women's Biology. Rutgers U Press:New Brunswick. 1990
Jennings, Bruce. New Choices, New Responsibilities: teaching resource for high school bioethics. 1992.
Kevles,Daniel and Hood, Leroy,eds. The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human
Genome Project. Cambridge: Harvard U. Press. 1992.
Lee, Thomas. Gene Future: promises and perils of the New Biology. Plenum Press. NY 1993
Lyon, Jeff. Altered Fates: Gene Therapy and Retooling Human Life. Horton Press, NY 1995
Macer,Darryl R.J. Attitudes to Genetic Engineering: Japanese and International Engineering
Eubios Ethics Institute.1992
Macer, Darryl. Shaping Genes: Ethics, Law and Sciences. Eubios Ethics Institute1990
Maddox, John, "The Case for the Human Genome," Nature. 352. July 4. 1991 11-14
McCarrick, Pat Milmoe. "Genetic Testing and Genetic Screening." Scope Notes 22. Kennedy
Institute of Ethics.Washington, DC.
McManus, Margaret. "Genetic Counseling in Catholic Hospitals," Health Progress 71(8). October 1990.
63-65
Michalczyk,John ed. Medicine, Ethics, and Third Reich:Historical and Contemporary Issues.
Sheed and Ward: Kansas City. 1994.
Moraczewski,Albert. "The Human Genome Project and Catholic Church," Internat'l J Bioethics
2(4). December, 1991. 229-234.
Moraczewski, Albert. "On Human Cloning," Ethics and Medics. 19(6) Pope John XXIII Center:
Braintree, MA. June, 1994.
Moser, Mary Beth. Genetic Counseling: an Ethical and Legal Problem. St. Louis, MO: the Catholic
Association of 1985
Neufeld, Peter and Colman, Neville, "When Science Takes the Witness Stand," Scientific
American. 362(5). May 1990 .46-51.
Reilly,Philip R. Surgical Solution: History of Involuntary Sterilization in U.S. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press.1991.
Russo, V. Genetic Engineering Dreams and Nightmares. Oxford: WH Freeman. 1995
Sasson"Albert and Costarini, Vivien ,eds. Biotechnologies in Perspective: Socioeconomic
Implications for Developing Countries. UNESCO. 1991.
Sgreccia, Elio. "Ethical Issues in Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Therapy: A Catholic Perspective. "Fetal
Therapy
Suzuki,David and Knudtson,Peter. Genethics: Clash Between The New Genetics and Human Values
Cambridge MA: Harvard U. Press. 1990.
Waxman, Barbara Faye. "Up against Eugenics: Disabled Women's Challenge to Receive
Reproductive Health Services, " Sexuality and Disability, 12(2). Summer, 1994.
Wekesser, Carol, ed. Genetic Engineering: Opposing Viewpoints. Greenhouse Press, San Diego. 1996.
World Council of Churches. Biotechnology: its Challenges to the Churches and the World Geneva.
August,1989.