Genetic Testing Paper For Biology 101 Class
Genetic Testing Research Paper
CSUF Biology 101 – Spring 2013
This writing assignment is designed to provide opportunities for the student to find, evaluate, select, synthesize, organize, cite, and present information and arguments clearly and effectively for understanding scientific issues on personal, societal, and global levels.
While surfing the internet, your grandmother clicked on a pop-up ad for a genetic testing kit that can be purchased online for $100 and can determine a person’s risk of developing several different kinds of diseases. She is intrigued about the possibility of finding hidden diseases in her DNA and is asking you, her favorite grandchild, for more information. Your grandmother is smart but has not had a biology class in 50 years. Therefore you need to be concise and clear, yet thorough.
You will write a response in the form of a letter to your grandmother addressing the following (about a paragraph or two for each point):
1. Explain how your DNA can code for a disease. Your explanation should include the key words “Transcription” and “Translation”. Describe one specific genetic disorder that can be tested for using one of these direct-to-consumer genetics test kits. Your description should include a brief background of the disorder and the reason a person would want to be tested for the disorder.
2. Why is it that some tests (i.e. Huntington’s Disease test) determine, for certain, whether you will have the disorder, while other tests (i.e. Type II diabetes test) can only determine if you show an increased likelihood or not of having the disorder? Explain two different reasons for this.
3. Identify two advantages and two disadvantages for allowing companies to freely market direct-to-consumer genetic test kits. In your opinion, should these companies be allowed to freely market any genetic test, including those for conditions that cannot be cured and for which no preventative measures exist? Support your opinion.
4. Would you choose to be genetically tested? Would you choose not to have children if you knew you had the Huntington’s Disease (or equally fatal) allele? Explain why or why not.
Make sure to read the following articles from USA Today:
“Genetic testing and disease: Would you want to know?” by Janice Lloyd, April 9, 2012
“Genetic testing: Does Kristin Powers have mom’s fatal gene?” by Janice Lloyd, June 2, 2012
You should also review relevant chapters in your textbook, and use other sources to fill in missing information. You must use and reference at least two additional sources for this paper besides one of the USA Today articles listed above and your textbook (making the minimum references for your paper 4). Keep in mind that your paper should be well supported by evidence and having a good number of quality sources will help in this regard.
It is important that your response to your grandmother be thoroughly researched and clearly written. You should define all your terms and be concise (1,000 words maximum). This assignment is designed to give you the experience of applying your knowledge of biology to a current controversy or topic of interest. You will use the same sort of method that you will later use as an informed citizen and consumer when making decisions that involve biology.
Other resources
Primary Sources : You will find information in the “primary literature,” which is where the research was originally published. You can find these articles by using CSUF’s on-line search engines, or by asking for the help of a CSUF librarian. Examples of the primary literature include Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy, and Genetics.
Secondary Sources : You may also find relevant articles in recent newspapers, popular magazines, or popular science journals. These are referred to as “secondary” sources, since they describe research that was published elsewhere. Examples of these include The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Time, Scientific American, Discover, New Scientist, and Science News.
Websites : If you choose to use a website, be aware that most websites are not peer-reviewed, and often present inaccurate information. Examples of excellent websites include those of the National Academy of Science, the National Institute of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and WebMD. If you are unsure of the appropriateness of a website, check with your instructor. Alternatively, the CSUF library has an excellent guide to evaluating websites at http://library.fullerton.edu/ under Guides for Undergraduates.
The structure of your response
· Be sure to cover all four points mentioned above and define all technical terms that you use.
· Your letter must be between 750 to 1000 words (not including references). Your letter should be double-spaced with one-inch margins, using 12 point Times New Roman font. No cover page is required.
· You are not allowed to include any quotes in your paper. All of your writing must be original. You must paraphrase ideas from the literature, even if you provide an in-text citation.
· Information and ideas that are paraphrased must be accompanied by proper in-text citations in the body of your paper and a corresponding reference in APA format.
· You need to review your paper for format, spelling, grammar and usage errors before you submit it, or you will lose points.
· Please also review the grading rubric on Titanium before submitting your paper to make sure that you have done everything you can to receive a good grade.
Guidelines for Citing References
In-Text Citations
For references in the text, give full surnames for papers by one or two authors, for example (Brown 1983) or (Williams and Brown 1983), but only the surname of the first author, followed by ‘et al.’ for three or more, for example (Brown et al. 1983) (note that ‘et al.’ is not underlined). Check that all references in the text are in the reference list and vice versa, that their dates and spellings match, and that complete bibliographical details are given, including page numbers, names of editors, name of publisher and full place of publication if the article is published in a book. Check foreign language references particularly carefully for accuracy of diacritical marks such as accents and umlauts.
Cite references in the text as, for example, Fagen & Young (1978) or, if in parentheses, as (Murton 1963). Note that when there are multiple authors, the primary author always comes first. Do not use commas to separate the author’s name from the date. Use lower-case letters to distinguish between two papers by the same authors in the same year (e.g. Packer 1979a). List multiple citations in chronological order (e.g. Zahavi 1972; Halliday 1978; Arnold 1981a, b), using a semicolon to separate each reference. For websites, if no author is given, use the website name or initials in place of the author, for example (Wikipedia 2008) or (EPA 2006). If no date is given, use the date that you accessed the website.
Example: Emlen (1978) proposed that cooperative behavior was critical in the evolution of most species. Recent work with spiders and hyenas has supported this claim (Robinson & Robinson 1970; Johnson 1999.)
Reference Page
Your bibliography should be formatted using APA (American Psychological Association) guidelines. You can find a summary of APA guidelines for your reference page at:
http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf
Submitting your response
Late papers will not be accepted. You must submit an electronic copy of your paper to Turnitin.com before the beginning of class on the day it is due.
Submitting your response to Turnitin.com
An electronic copy of the paper with references is due to Turnitin.com by the beginning of your class on April 15, 2013. Turnitin.com will not accept papers after the start time of your class. If you do not submit your paper to Turnitin.com by the beginning of your class on April 15, 2013 you will receive a zero for the assignment. Your response must be submitted to Turnitin.com, which is a plagiarism detection program, in order for your paper to be graded. All submissions will be evaluated, but if you submit a paper with a similarity index greater than 10% you will probably be reported to the Vice President for Student Affairs and receive a zero for the assignment. Refer to the attached instructions on how to submit your paper to Turnitin.com.
Preparing your paper for submission
Turnitin can accept files in the following formats: MS Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, and plain text. Be sure that you save your paper in one of these formats.
NOTE: Your electronic submission should include all in-text citations as well as your reference page.
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