This instructional module contains a description of the Human Genome Project (HGP). A discussion of issues in the philosophy of science and some of the ethical, legal, and social implications of research in genetics, and a survey of fundamental genetics concepts and of new, nontraditional concepts of inheritance are also included. Six…

Many teachers avoid controversial topics because they do not want to upset students or parents, do not know appropriate instructional strategies, and fail to recognize the importance of motivating students through placing science in its relevant context. An example is provided for use in a methods course for helping future high school teachers to…

As the Human Genome Project experiences remarkable success and a flood of biological data is produced, bioinformatics becomes a very "hot" cross-disciplinary field, yet experienced bioinformaticians are urgently needed worldwide. This paper summarises the rapid development of bioinformatics education in China, especially related…

This curriculum module explores genes, environment, and human behavior. This book provides materials to teach about the nature and methods of studying human behavior, raise some of the ethical and public policy dilemmas emerging from the Human Genome Project, and provide professional development for teachers. An extensive Teacher Background…

Universal newborn screening programs for metabolic disorders are typically described as a triumph of medicine and public policy in the US over the last 50 years. Advances in science and technology, including the Human Genome Project, offer the opportunity to expand universal newborn screening programs to include many additional metabolic and…

Many students at minority-serving institutions are underexposed to Internet resources such as the human genome project, PubMed, NCBI databases, and other Web-based technologies because of a lack of financial resources. To change this, we designed and implemented a new bioinformatics component to supplement the undergraduate Genetics course at…

Presented at a 1996 conference on the implications of the Human Genome Project for community and technical colleges, the 30 papers included in this monograph describe methods for incorporating genetics studies into the two-year college curriculum. Among the papers provided are: (1) "Facing the Unknown: The Ethical Challenges of…

This paper investigates high school students' reactions to the science theater play "Mapping the Soul," which was developed by the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts. Science theater is both an educational technique and a type of museum theater. This study explores these questions: (1) Do students differentiate learning science from…

An extremely simple, inexpensive, and safe method is presented, which emulates nucleic acids isolation and electrophoretic analysis as performed in a research environment, in the context of a secondary school hands-on activity. The protocol is amenable to an interdisciplinary approach, taking into consideration the electrical and chemical…

Community colleges have encountered many factors that may reshape their future. Environmental imperatives weigh heavily on community colleges, as does the new integration of the sciences, such as breakthroughs in the biochemical sciences, such as the human genome project. It is also important to pay attention to the forms in which knowledge is…

This article undertakes a close rhetorical reading of the speeches given by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Francis Collins, and Craig Venter on June 26, 2000, at the White House ceremony announcing the completion of the Human Genome Project. Specifically, it looks at the metaphors used by each speaker to describe the activity of genomic scientists.…

This paper reviews the case of Carrie Buck, who was the first person sterilized (in 1927) under a Virginia law allowing sterilization of persons identified as incompetent and likely to genetically transmit physical, psychological, or social deficiencies to their offspring. This law was later upheld by the Supreme Court in Buck v. Bell, which…

The papers contained in this proceedings from the 1995 Society for Literature and Science Conference are organized into sections with the following themes: (1) Metaphor and Science; (2) The Technological Invasion of the Living Space; (3) Autobiographies and Biographies of Scientists; (4) Science and 19th Century Literature; (5) Visions of the…

Since the work of Watson and Crick in the mid-1950s, the science of genetics has become increasingly molecular. The development of recombinant DNA technologies by the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries led to the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). By the end of the twentieth century, reports of animal cloning and recent…

When the human genome project was conceived, its leaders wanted all researchers to have equal access to the data and associated research tools. Their vision of equal access provides an unprecedented teaching opportunity. Teachers and students have free access to the same databases that researchers are using. Furthermore, the recent movement to…