Genetics - Biol 97
Part (a) DUE November 12, 2007
[Parts b, c DUE November 19,
November 26]
There are many levels of sources for learning what is new and exciting
in science. Obviously we use people and textbooks, but people are
not always available and textbooks are not completely current, since it
takes so long to publish them. SO ... we must go to sources with
higher turnover rates.
Original research is published in many different professional
journals. Very often, review articles are also published in these
journals. The intended audience is the same set of scientists who
read the original reports, so these usually presuppose a fairly high
level of information.
There are also magazines that specialize in review articles for
everyone. Scientific American is one such magazine.
Discover, Science News, and very often a weekly supplement in a local
paper are others. Clearly the intended audiences and the purpose
of these sources is varied.
** For
this assignment, part (a)
choose a resource that specializes in news - "hot topics" - such as
Science News, the newspaper, or any magazine that has the occasional
article of interest.
Choose an article that interests you. It should have been
published within the last year. The general topic must be related
to use of modern molecular genetics technology (in any field - for
medicine, agriculture, the study of genetics or other biological
topics, or to develop new technologies. Read it. Write
[this should not be more than a page, total]:
1. Brief (approximately one paragraph) summary of the main points
in the article (from the author's point of view). - do not try to go
into detail, just write what the article was about, in your own words.
2. The one or two points which you found most important, interesting,
intriguing, or new to yourself.
3. At least one issue or question which follows from the work described
i.e. what the next step should be.
4. At least 1 future implication (e.g. medical) of this work.
5. At least 1 ethical implication of this work (or its future
potential as discussed for #4).
6. How the material presented in the article relates to some issue
other than what is specifically mentioned by the author (if you can
think of some).
**
For part (b) DUE NOVEMBER 19: find a review
paper on a topic related to your review article
** For part (c) DUE NOVEMBER 26: find an
original research report on a topic related to your other 2 papers
Read these papers. Write [this should be ~ a page, each]
1. Brief summary, in your own words, as above. These should
include increasing detail as the articles become more technical &
complex.
2. The one or two points which you found most intriguing
3. The main approaches used in the study:
✏ - for the review article: how are the
investigators in the field trying to study the problem? How do
they define or phrase the issues so that they can study the topic?
✏ - for the primary source: identify one or
two techniques used in the study. Why were these techniques
used? Do you understand how they were done? Read the
Methods section; ask a technical question which, when you know the
answer, would help clarify the paper.
4. What is the next big question? Where is the mystery, the
intrigue? What do you think they will try to do next? What
would you try to do next? Explain.
FOR ALL 3: Attach a copy of the
article (or if for some reason you picked a really long one and did not
copy it for your own use, attach a copy of the first page at least) to
your typed summary. This
does not replace the requirement for a proper citation.
** Please
note that, in all cases, you are asked to summarize the topic, not
review or describe either the article or the author(s).
DO NOT
QUOTE.
Use your own words to summarize the
material, and then to
respond to it.
Use the questions outlined above as
guidelines to
organize your essays.
DO NOT use these questions as if they
were
exam questions to be addressed by number, in order.
Do not assume
that the reader has read this assignment sheet & questions.