Biology 4 (1998W)

Biology 4: Genes and Society

1998 Winter Term

Prof. Robert Gross

---

Welcome to the Bio 4 web site. This site contains lecture notes and links to related sites. You can email Prof. Gross directly from here. Bio 4 notes are also available for 1996 and 1997.

• Course Description -- description of course philosophy, text books, office hours, exams, etc.
• Lecture Schedule -- schedule of lectures and links to lecture notes (as they become availalbe)
• Movies (you need a QuickTime Plugin to view these)-- mitosis, meiosis, protein synthesis, lac operon
• Term Project -- information about term projects for this year
• Exams
  • Bio 4 Grading Policy
  • Exam 1: answer key, grade distribution
  • Exam 2: answer key, grade distribution
  • Final Exam for 1998
• Guidelines for paper formatting should be followed
• selected student essays from 1997 Term Projects
• Final Exam from 1997 (and some student answers)

Some hot news of the day from the world of science.

Class Discussions/Chats on the Web: 1/15/98: Opinion Poll on Cloning 1/20/98: DNA Privacy 1/28/98: Human Cloning Should Not be Banned Outright 2/3/98: Bio 4 Survey on Genetics and Assisted Reproduction

Other Sites of Interest:

• Cell and Molecular Biology Online - includes teaching of Molecular and Cell Biology
• The Gene Letter - A newsletter on scientific and societal issues in genetics
• Ethics & Genetics - Discussion through Univ.of Pennsylvania Bioethics Institute
• Center for Biological And Biomedical Computing at Dartmouth
• The Institute for Genome Research - a collection of databases and information
• MendelWeb - contains Mendel's original papers and data
• Cell & Genetics Glossary - contains definitions for many common terms
• Primer on Molecular Genetics
• Online Mendelian Inheritance in Human - human genetic disorders
• BioSciences Dictionary - features an ever-growing online bioscience dictionary, staff-written educational articles about various topics in genetics, and annotated links to a wide range of relevant resources around the Internet.
• Biology teaching & Learning - A national educational program sponsored by the biotechnology industry pioneer, Genentech, Inc., that puts high school biology teachers in touch with their colleagues, scientists and critical sources of new scientific information through an online network. It contains interviews, experiments and other kinds of resources and connections.
• Human Genome Project site - contains all kinds of information related to this project.
• Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues involving the Human Genome Project are discussed at this site.
• Human Genome Project Patenting Indigenous People – The authors explore from both an ethical and an anthropological perspective, the role of indigenous people in the Human Genome Project. They argue that because of their historical position as marginalised people and their exploitation by political and corporate interests, the role of indigenous people in the Project is highly problematic. In their reflections on the Human Genome Project, the authors look further into the ethical and political issues, which include \Qinformed prior consent', protection of indigenous resources and knowledge, and cultural and moral attitudes toward the patenting of life forms.