| "What
Every Lawyer, Businessman, and Citizen Needs to Know about Molecular
Biology" (Spring 2008)
Related
Links:
Overview
of the Pilot Curriculum General Education Requirement
Current Pilot Curriculum
General Requirement Course Descriptions
This course
fulfills Category III of the General Education Requirement.
Faculty:
Meeting
Times:
| LEC |
BIOL
003 001 |
T & R |
1:30
- 3:00 |
Course Description:
Modern biology is transforming our lives in myriad ways: DNA fingerprinting,
animal cloning, GM (genetically modified) agriculture, bio-terror, and
gene therapy. The public dimly understands the bases for these technologies
and thus tends to exaggerate both their promise and their dangers. These
developments raise practical, ethical, and philosophical issues that
educated individuals should be equipped to consider. This course for
non-majors will introduce concepts of modern biology and provide tools
that will help to follow exciting/controversial developments as they
are reported in the press.
Each class period is divided into two sections. One section is a text-based
coverage of key concepts and terminology of molecular biology, cell biology,
physiology and neurobiology. This section provides a student with sufficient
literacy to understand new developments as they are reported in the press.
The ability to follow new developments is essential since biology is
changing so rapidly that much of what we know today will be out of date
in 5 years.
The second section is a student-led discussion of biological topics in
the news. Student presentations describe the scientific concept/hypothesis
underlying a news item. The presentation includes a critique of the validity
of the claim by determining who is speaking for each side and whether
they have a personal interest in the outcome; what data/experimentation
supports or refutes the hypothesis; and whether controls were sufficient
to rule out alternative hypotheses.
The course also includes readings from the excellent literature now available
for the lay public. Students write short responses to these lay readings
and write longer papers evaluating a particular advance in biotechnology.
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