Name: ________________________
Period: _______
Is GATTACA our future?: The truth about biotechnology
Now that you have viewed the movie GATTACA, it is time to decide who is smarter, you or the
Hollywood producers. It is also time for you to help educate others out there who believe anything
they see in the movies. You will be working with a partner on this project, unless you choose to
work alone.
How do I start? Doing research online, educate yourself about the following topics:

What is biotechnology?

What are gene chips? (what do they look like? who uses them? where do you get them?
are they expensive? how long have them been around?)

What kind of research can be done using gene chip? Why are they important?

Where could the uses of gene chips take our society in the next 30 years?
It is expected that you are doing honors level research here. You should understand what types of
websites are reliable and what types are not. If you are unsure about this, please talk to your teacher!
[NO WIKIPEDIA!] Once you have a basic understand of biotechnology and gene chips, choose one area
to focus your research.
You will need to find at least 1 scholarly article (a paper people write after doing scientific research) in
your online searching. Try using Google Scholar to find your article; it is a great search engine that only
searches through scholarly articles.
What do I have to do? After doing some in-depth research on these topics (at least 30 minutes on
internet research, maybe more) your next stop will be to educate someone you know. You will compose a
formal letter or email to someone in your life (parent, teacher, friend [who is not in honors biology])
informing them about the difference between the Hollywood portrayal of biotechnologies and your
opinion of the same. This letter should be in the form of a persuasive essay (again you should
understand what this means, if you are unsure, talk to your teacher!).
How will I be graded? Here is what you will be evaluated on:

I am on task during research time in class.

I am finding and using reliable sources online.

I am including at least one scholarly article in my online research

I have developed my own point of view based on my research.

I have based my persuasive essay on my point of view and research.
How many points is this worth? Your finished letter will be worth 30 points; however, you can earn up
to 5 points of extra credit by actually giving your letter to someone you know and having them write a 510 sentence response. Although you will be working on this project with a partner, you must complete the
extra credit on your own. Also, a person (friend, teacher, family member) can only respond to one letter!