IB MYP / DP TOK Tidbits

Darwinism ...

2010-05-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

200 years old ....

Darwinism Must Die So That Evolution May Live

By CARL SAFINA

“You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat-catching,” Robert Darwin told his son, “and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.” Yet the feckless boy is everywhere. Charles Darwin gets so much credit, we can’t distinguish evolution from him.

Equating evolution with Charles Darwin ignores 150 years of discoveries, including most of what scientists understand about evolution. Such as: Gregor Mendel’s patterns of heredity (which gave Darwin’s idea of natural selection a mechanism — genetics — by which it could work); the discovery of DNA (which gave genetics a mechanism and lets us see evolutionary lineages); developmental biology (which gives DNA a mechanism); studies documenting evolution in nature (which converted the hypothetical to observable fact); evolution’s role in medicine and disease (bringing immediate relevance to the topic); and more.

By propounding “Darwinism,” even scientists and science writers perpetuate an impression that evolution is about one man, one book, one “theory.” The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi said, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” The point is that making a master teacher into a sacred fetish misses the essence of his teaching. So let us now kill Darwin.

That all life is related by common ancestry, and that populations change form over time, are the broad strokes and fine brushwork of evolution. But Darwin was late to the party. His grandfather, and others, believed new species evolved. Farmers and fanciers continually created new plant and animal varieties by selecting who survived to breed, thus handing Charles Darwin an idea. All Darwin perceived was that selection must work in nature, too.

In 1859, Darwin’s perception and evidence became “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.” Few realize he published 8 books before and 10 books after “Origin.” He wrote seminal books on orchids, insects, barnacles and corals. He figured out how atolls form, and why they’re tropical.

Credit Darwin’s towering genius. No mind ran so freely, so widely or so freshly over the hills and vales of existence. But there’s a limit to how much credit is reasonable. Parking evolution with Charles Darwin overlooks the limits of his time and all subsequent progress.

Science was primitive in Darwin’s day. Ships had no engines. Not until 1842, six years after Darwin’s Beagle voyage, did Richard Owen coin the term “dinosaur.” Darwin was an adult before scientists began debating whether germs caused disease and whether physicians should clean their instruments. In 1850s London, John Snow fought cholera unaware that bacteria caused it. Not until 1857 did Johann Carl Fuhlrott and Hermann Schaaffhausen announce that unusual bones from the Neander Valley in Germany were perhaps remains of a very old human race. In 1860 Louis Pasteur performed experiments that eventually disproved “spontaneous generation,” the idea that life continually arose from nonliving things.

Science has marched on. But evolution can seem uniquely stuck on its founder. We don’t call astronomy Copernicism, nor gravity Newtonism. “Darwinism” implies an ideology adhering to one man’s dictates, like Marxism. And “isms” (capitalism, Catholicism, racism) are not science. “Darwinism” implies that biological scientists “believe in” Darwin’s “theory.” It’s as if, since 1860, scientists have just ditto-headed Darwin rather than challenging and testing his ideas, or adding vast new knowledge.

Using phrases like “Darwinian selection” or “Darwinian evolution” implies there must be another kind of evolution at work, a process that can be described with another adjective. For instance, “Newtonian physics” distinguishes the mechanical physics Newton explored from subatomic quantum physics. So “Darwinian evolution” raises a question: What’s the other evolution?

Into the breach: intelligent design. I am not quite saying Darwinism gave rise to creationism, though the “isms” imply equivalence. But the term “Darwinian” built a stage upon which “intelligent” could share the spotlight.

Charles Darwin didn’t invent a belief system. He had an idea, not an ideology. The idea spawned a discipline, not disciples. He spent 20-plus years amassing and assessing the evidence and implications of similar, yet differing, creatures separated in time (fossils) or in space (islands). That’s science.

That’s why Darwin must go.

Almost everything we understand about evolution came after Darwin, not from him. He knew nothing of heredity or genetics, both crucial to evolution. Evolution wasn’t even Darwin’s idea.

Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus believed life evolved from a single ancestor. “Shall we conjecture that one and the same kind of living filaments is and has been the cause of all organic life?” he wrote in “Zoonomia” in 1794. He just couldn’t figure out how.

Charles Darwin was after the how. Thinking about farmers’ selective breeding, considering the high mortality of seeds and wild animals, he surmised that natural conditions acted as a filter determining which individuals survived to breed more individuals like themselves. He called this filter “natural selection.” What Darwin had to say about evolution basically begins and ends right there. Darwin took the tiniest step beyond common knowledge. Yet because he perceived — correctly — a mechanism by which life diversifies, his insight packed sweeping power.

But he wasn’t alone. Darwin had been incubating his thesis for two decades when Alfred Russel Wallace wrote to him from Southeast Asia, independently outlining the same idea. Fearing a scoop, Darwin’s colleagues arranged a public presentation crediting both men. It was an idea whose time had come, with or without Darwin.

Darwin penned the magnum opus. Yet there were weaknesses. Individual variation underpinned the idea, but what created variants? Worse, people thought traits of both parents blended in the offspring, so wouldn’t a successful trait be diluted out of existence in a few generations? Because Darwin and colleagues were ignorant of genes and the mechanics of inheritance, they couldn’t fully understand evolution.

Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, discovered that in pea plants inheritance of individual traits followed patterns. Superiors burned his papers posthumously in 1884. Not until Mendel’s rediscovered “genetics” met Darwin’s natural selection in the “modern synthesis” of the 1920s did science take a giant step toward understanding evolutionary mechanics. Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick bestowed the next leap: DNA, the structure and mechanism of variation and inheritance.

Darwin’s intellect, humility (“It is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance”) and prescience astonish more as scientists clarify, in detail he never imagined, how much he got right.

But our understanding of how life works since Darwin won’t swim in the public pool of ideas until we kill the cult of Darwinism. Only when we fully acknowledge the subsequent century and a half of value added can we really appreciate both Darwin’s genius and the fact that evolution is life’s driving force, with or without Darwin.

Carl Safina is a MacArthur fellow, an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University and the president of the Blue Ocean Institute. His books include “Song for the Blue Ocean,” “Eye of the Albatross” and “Voyage of the Turtle.”

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Your assignment is to go to the original article and read the comments posted to it. Cut and paste two comments (one you agree with and another that you disagree with) into the comment section for this post and then explain why you agree with one and disagree with the other. Questions? Please ask! Thanks. Mr. A

The original article can be found here.

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Earth Day 2010

2010-04-23T05:27:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Earth Day 2010

Published: Thursday, April 22, 2010 7:47 AM EDT

Today is Earth Day 2010.

This 40th annual event is an opportunity to build a healthy, clean energy economy now — and for the future.

There will be one billion people in 190 countries who are taking action for Earth Day.

According to earthday.org, here are what some people across the globe are doing nearly every day to help our environment.

• “I never throw clean water down the drain. It goes into a bucket to be used for watering plants or filling the kettle.”

• “I am trying to eat only seasonal home-grown vegetables and recycling as much as possible.”

• “I'm using environment-friendly cosmetics for my daughter.”

• “I am encouraging all my friends to recycle by starting a “how green is your bin” promotion. I am also shopping at charity shops and not buying new to reduce the demand for production.”

• “I use stair cases to reach my home on the fifth floor of my apartment, which keeps me fit, reduces electrical consumption and contributes to the reduction of carbon emission.”

While some of these actions may seem extreme, they are the start of what may become commonplace in the future — if we don’t act right now.

Locally, Thumb residents can visit Bad Axe High School on Saturday for “Embracing Our Earth,” a fun, educational — and FREE — day that celebrates the wonders of Earth and promotes the preservation of Earth’s resources.

The goal of this festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., is to inform and educate citizens of all ages on the topics of environmental stewardship and renewable energy.

Future generations are relying on us right now to better our environment, expand the “green job” sector, and develop renewable energy resources.

Everybody needs to do their part.

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Your assignment is to write a "letter" to the Earth indicating what you would be willing to do. This letter should be personal and should include examples with details. Please post your "letter" as a comment to this blog post. Remember to "sign" your first name and last initial. Please be reflective and thoughtful in your comment. Questions?, please ask. Thanks Mr. A

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Death with Dignity

2010-03-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

Oregon Death with Dignity Act

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Measure 16 of 1994 established the U.S. state of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act (ORS 127.800-995), which legalizes physician-assisted dying with certain restrictions. Passage of this initiative made Oregon the first U.S. state and one of the first jurisdictions in the world to permit some terminally ill patients to determine the time of their own death.

The measure was narrowly approved in the November 8, 1994 general election. 627,980 votes (51.3%) were cast in favor, 596,018 votes (48.7%) against.

The Act was challenged by the George W. Bush administration, but was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gonzales v. Oregon in 2005.

Under the law, a capable adult Oregon resident who has been diagnosed by a physician with a terminal illness that will kill them within six months may request in writing, from his or her physician, a prescription for a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of ending the patient's life. Use of the law is voluntary and the patient must initiate the request. Any physician, pharmacist or healthcare provider opposed on moral grounds does not have to participate.

The request must be confirmed by two witnesses, one of whom cannot be related to the patient, be entitled to any portion of the patient's estate, be the patient's physician, or be employed by a health care facility caring for the patient. After the request is made, another physician must examine the patient's medical records and confirm the diagnosis. The patient must be determined to not suffer from a mental condition impairing judgment.

If the request is authorized, the patient must wait at least fifteen days and make a second oral request before the prescription may be written. The patient has a right to rescind the request at any time. Should either physician have concerns about the patient’s ability to make an informed decision, or feel the patient’s request may be motivated by depression or coercion, the patient must be referred for a psychological evaluation.

The law protects doctors from liability for providing a lethal prescription for a terminally ill, competent adult in compliance with the statute restrictions. Participation by physicians, pharmacists, and health care providers is voluntary. The law also specifies a patient's decision to end his or her life shall not "have an effect upon a life, health, or accident insurance or annuity policy."

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State's hospitals formulate assisted-suicide plan
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter

University of Washington Medicine health system and Group Health Cooperative have opted in. Swedish Medical Center is, for the most part, opting out. Virginia Mason Medical Center's hospital will not be participating, though its outpatient clinics can.

As Washington's Death with Dignity Act takes effect today, hospitals both locally and statewide vary in terms of whether they'll take part. Washington voters approved Initiative 1000 — the Death with Dignity Act — in November. Modeled closely on a decade-old Oregon law, it allows physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients determined to have six months or less to live.

The act allows health-care facilities and individual health-care providers not to participate. Since the law passed, health-care facilities have been scrambling to come up with policies.

Now, it appears that about a third of the state's hospitals seem to be opting out, said Cassie Sauer, spokeswoman for the Washington State Hospital Association. That means caregivers operating in their facilities or on their behalf are forbidden from helping a patient die, and their pharmacies may not dispense the medications.

About a third of the hospitals are participating, meaning they're letting each individual doctor, pharmacist and caregiver decide whether to take part. And about a third seem to be somewhere in the middle, Sauer said. That could mean a hospital might forbid doctors and pharmacists from prescribing and dispensing lethal medications on its premises. But the hospital could let its doctors prescribe a lethal dose to an outpatient.

"I'm surprised by the middle ground," Sauer said. "I thought people would be all in or all out. I think people are finding a third way."

For UW Medicine — which includes the UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center — and Group Health Cooperative, opting in means allowing each doctor to decide whether to participate.

Swedish will not allow providers to participate on Swedish premises and will not allow its pharmacies to fill prescriptions for life-ending medications. But it will give referrals to other providers and pharmacies if the patient requests it. Physicians can also choose whether or not to participate when they're not in Swedish facilities.

Virginia Mason will not provide Death with Dignity services in its inpatient hospital. But individual providers in Virginia Mason's outpatient clinics — which includes a cancer institute — can choose whether to participate. Virginia Mason pharmacies will not dispense the lethal medications but its pharmacy staff may tell providers who will.

Regardless of how hospitals and other facilities decide, patients and families that want to use the law should be able to find a doctor who will work with them, said Terry Barnett, president of Compassion and Choices of Washington, the right-to-die organization that was behind much of Initiative 1000.

The organization is providing a model letter that patients can give to their doctors to start a conversation and can refer patients to participating physicians. That policies vary widely points to the law's complexity and controversial nature. Opponents have formed a grass-roots group called True Compassion Advocates and are planning to demonstrate at the UW Medical Center today.

They want to show that there are still advocates for "life-affirming choices that don't include ending the life of the patient who needs care," said spokeswoman Eileen Geller.

"Let's not underestimate that this is still a very controversial issue in the United States," said Paul Root Wolpe, director of Emory Center for Ethics in Atlanta. It's also one that's making headlines in other states.

In December, Montana became the third state to allow physician-assisted death when a district-court judge ruled that the state's constitutional guarantees of privacy and dignity mean terminally ill patients have a right to "die with dignity." The state has appealed that decision. And late last month, four members of the Georgia-based Final Exit Network were arrested in a sting operation and charged with assisted suicide in the death of a cancer patient.

"Perhaps we'll end up with a patchwork of states, with some allowing physician-assisted suicide and some not allowing it," Wolpe said. "Right now, it's too volatile to really know."

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Based on the Oregon Law and the recently enacted Washington law, your assignment is to respond to the following prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph format:

Should Colorado pass and enact a "Death with Dignity Law?

Please post your opinion as comment to this blog post.

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when cellular respiration goes wrong..... (mitochondrial disease)...

2010-03-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

An example when cellular respiration does not work properly.....

"Many diseases derive from problems with cellular respiration, the process through which cells extract energy from nutrients. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now discovered a new function for a protein in the mitochondrion - popularly called the cell's power station - that plays a key part in cell respiration.

Every time we take a breath, our blood transports oxygen to the mitochondria, where it is used to convert the nutrients in our food to a form of energy that the body can use. Problems with this process, which is called cellular respiration, have been linked to a number of morbid conditions, from unusual genetic diseases to diabetes, cancer and Parkinson's, as well as to the normal ageing process. Despite the fact that cellular respiration is so basic, there is much scientists have yet to understand about how it is regulated.

Cellular respiration depends on proteins synthesised outside the mitochondrion and imported into it, and on proteins synthesised inside the mitochondrion from its own DNA. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now shown that a specific gene (Tfb1m) in the cell's nucleus codes for a protein (TFB1M) that is essential to mitochondrial protein synthesis. If TFB1M is missing, mitochondria are unable to produce any proteins at all and cellular respiration cannot take place.

'Mice completely lacking in TFB1M die early in the foetal stage as they are unable to develop cellular respiration,' says Medodi Metodiev, one of the researchers involved in the study, which is presented in Cell Metabolism. 'Mice without TFB1M in the heart suffer from progressive heart failure and increase mitochondrial mass, which is similar to what we find in patients with mitochondrial diseases.'

The scientists believe that the study represents a breakthrough in the understanding of how mitochondrial protein synthesis is regulated, and thus increases the chances of one day finding a treatment for mitochondrial disease, something which is currently unavailable."

Source: Karolinska Institutet

A link to the article is here. (Science Centric 4.8.09)

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Your assignment is to identify between 3-5 "diseases" or "genetic disorders" caused by inadequate cellular respiration. Using the internet, name the "disorder", describe how it relates to cellular respiration, identify the consequences for the afflicted individual and note any therapy that might be available. Please sent your information to doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com . Questions?.... Please ask in class. Thanks, Mr. A

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Chimera?.... hybrids.... good or bad.....

2009-12-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

An example of a sheep-goat chimera.

Typically seen in zoology (but also discovered to a rare extent in human beings), a chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes; if the different cells emerged from the same zygote, it is called a mosaicism. Chimerism in human beings has very few (about 40) reported cases

Chimeras are formed from four parent cells (two fertilized eggs or early embryos fuse together) or from three parent cells (a fertilized egg is fused with an unfertilized egg or a fertilized egg is fused with an extra sperm). Each population of cells keeps its own character and the resulting animal is a mixture of tissues. An analogy is two jigsaw puzzles cut using an identical cutter, but with different pictures. A single puzzle can be made out of the mis-matched parts, but the completed puzzle will show parts of both pictures.

This condition is either inherited, or it is acquired through the infusion of allogeneic hematopoietic cells during transplantation or transfusion. In nonidentical twins, chimerism occurs by means of blood-vessel anastomoses. The likelihood of a child being a chimera is increased if the child is created via in vitro fertilization. Chimeras can often breed, but the fertility and type of offspring depends on which cell line gave rise to the ovaries or testes; intersexuality and hermaphroditism may result if one set of cells is genetically female and another genetically male.

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Concerns About Chimera Research

This is an excerpt from an article on Chimeras at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. Their website is located at: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/bioethics/

While not completely opposed to the research, some experts and interested members of the public raise concerns about techniques and possible outcomes if initial problems are ignored. Their major concerns are the following:

Could chimeras have human brains?

If a chimera's brain is comprised of mostly human neurons with an appropriate structure, experts are questioning whether a human brain—and mind—could develop within an animal or human-animal body. The National Academies Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research cautions that experiments in which there is a possibility that human cells could contribute in a "major organized way" to the brain of an animal require strong scientific justification.

Projects such as the following give rise to questions regarding chimeras with human brains:

* Researchers at Stanford University are injecting human neural stem cells into mouse fetuses to study development of neurologic diseases (see project description in Definition section, above). Initial results were mice with brains that were about 1% human, but researchers could increase that percentage to 100% human brains in the laboratory mice. They anticipate that the structures of the brain, and certainly the size, would still be mouse-like even though the neurons of the brain would be 100% human. Responding to concerns that the experiment could result in brains that were more human than mouse, Stanford University's ethics committee has approved the research on the condition that if the mice developed indicators of human intelligence, such as improved memory or problem-solving, it would be time to stop the project.

* At St. Kitts Biomedical Foundation in the Caribbean, scientists are transplanting immature human brain cells into the brains of vervet monkeys, generating a human-monkey chimera.xxi This kind of research could create human-primate chimeras, with human brain cells.

An expert panel was convened by John Hopkins University in 2005 to study the potential for just such human-primate experiments to significantly change the cognitive and emotional capacities of primates—in effect, to humanize them.

The Working Group on Interspecific Chimeric Brains consisted of primatologists and other scientists, ethicists, and lawyers. They concluded that any shift in brain capacities toward the human end of the spectrum would be more likely to occur if human brain cells were introduced early in the development of the brains of great apes. Experiments in which small numbers of human cells were grafted into healthy adult brains of the most distantly related monkey species were the least likely to raise concerns.

What is the potential for humanized chimeras?

If human embryonic stem cells were to be injected into an animal embryo very early in its development, the human cells might spread through every organ system in the animal embryo. Conversely, animal embryonic stem cells could do the same thing when introduced into an early-stage human embryo. The results of such techniques could be a humanized animal (or animalized human), with physical features and behaviors that are distinctly human.

Considering this possible outcome, the National Academies' Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research say that no animal embryonic stem cells should be transplanted into a human blastocyst (early embryo). In addition, approval by an Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight committee should be secured before any human embryonic stem cells are put into an animal.

Could chimeras mate and produce human offspring?

If a female chimera with human ova (egg cells) mated with a male chimera with human sperm cells, scientists believe that it would be possible for a human fetus to be the result. Potentially, a chimera could give birth to a human. To address this issue, the National Academies Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research states: “No animal into which human embryonic stem cells have been introduced at any stage of development should be allowed to breed.”

How will human-primate chimeras be treated?

While already being used a t St. Kitts Biomedical Foundation (mentioned above), primates are likely to be the animal of choice in some human-animal chimera projects because of their close genetic similarities (especially in chimpanzees) to humans. While the guidelines state that “no human embryonic stem cells should be put into nonhuman primate blastocysts [early embryos],” they do not exclude chimera research at a later stage of development. While some oppose this research outright, others are assuming that human-primate chimeras will become more widespread in research and question whether they will be treated as humans or animals.

A.M. Chakrabarty, of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, asks:

"What is a human? This is not a question of the moral dilemma to define a human but is a legal requirement as to how much human material a chimpanzee must have before it is declared a part human and therefore falls under the protection of the Thirteenth Amendment….We must move beyond moral and philosophical discussions of hybrid human-nonhuman animals and be prepared to tackle the difficult legal questions that will attend not-so-distant attempts at creating such hybrids say for organ harvesting, for use as a subhuman species to perform hard manual labors, or simply for curiosity’s sake.”

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From the Center of Bioethics at the University of Minnesota:

Because human-animal chimeras contain human cells—or even tissues or organs that are primarily human—ethical concerns surround the question of just what or who chimeras are. Because they were created under laboratory conditions for research purposes, are chimeras lab animals? Or, will chimeras eventually be developed that are too human to be considered otherwise?

http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/25857/chimeras.pdf

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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph format. Publish your response as a comment to this post. When stating your opinion, consider the bio-ethic positions of both the Republican and Democratic ideologies on medically related issues such as stem cell research, right-to-life / abortion policy, human cloning, organ transplants etc.

“Should United States scientists have governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to pursue research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine?

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link to mutations and human family tree sites

2009-12-09T05:48:00.001-08:00

human family tree

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/human-family-tree

mutation site

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/M/Mutations.html

assignment: send me an email with a list (numbered 1. 2. 3. 4. etc) of ALL the new concepts / ideas etc you have learned about by visiting these sites

doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

AAT and transgenic sheep

2009-12-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

What are the arguments for and against using transgenic animals?

AAT and Transgenic sheep

The protein alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) is made in normally functioning liver cells. AAT plays an important role preventing damage, particularly to the liver and lungs, by an enzyme in white blood cells. This enzyme is released from white blood cells to fight infection, and AAT stops it from attacking normal tissues.

A mutation in the gene that codes for AAT can result in absent or abnormal protein that cannot control the white blood cell enzyme. This is Alpha-1 - antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD) which is a hereditary disease that may lead to hepatitis and cirrhosis. It is the most common genetic cause of liver disease in children. Adults are also affected and may also have lung problems such as emphysema as well as liver disease.

At the moment, treatment for A1AD includes use of antibiotics and generally leading a healthy life style i.e. not smoking and drinking alcohol but these are not permanent solutions and ultimately liver and lung transplants may be needed. Gene therapy may eventually provide a treatment for A1AD, but so far it has not proved possible to remove the mutant gene from human DNA.

Transgenic (or genetically modified GM) sheep can help those A1AD sufferers who develop the lung disease emphysema. These animals have been genetically modified to produce milk that contains the human protein AAT. Supplies of AAT from this source are currently in clinical trials for A1AD and cystic fibrosis sufferers in many countries across the world.

Reference: http://www.beep.ac.uk/content/456.0.html

Bioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, philosophy, and theology. (from Wikipedia.org)

Your assignment is to create two arguments, one for and one against the creation of transgenic sheep to produce human AAT. Which one do you support and why? State your two arguments as a comment to this post. Also indicate which argument you support and why.

By doing this assignment, you will acquire an appreciation of the complexity of issues facing today's medical researchers and practioners.

Questions? Ask in class or email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

Thanks, Mr.A

Would you volunteer?

2009-11-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

The Human Genome Project (from wikipedia.org)

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with a primary goal to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

The project began in 1990, a working draft of the genome was released in 2000 and a complete one in 2003. The mapping of human genes is an important step in the development of medicines and other aspects of health care.

The HGP originally aimed to map the nucleotides contained in a haploid reference human genome (more than three billion. The "genome" of any given individual (except for identical twins and cloned animals) is unique; mapping "the human genome" involves sequencing multiple variations of each gene.

Goals

The sequence of the human DNA is stored in databases available to anyone on the Internet. The U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information(and sister organizations in Europe and Japan) house the gene sequence in a database known as GenBank, along with sequences of known and hypothetical genes and proteins. Computer programs have been developed to analyze the data, because the data themselves are difficult to interpret without such programs.

The process of identifying the boundaries between genes and other features in raw DNA sequence is called genome annotation and is the domain of bioinformatics. While expert biologists make the best annotators, their work proceeds slowly, and computer programs are increasingly used to meet the high-throughput demands of genome sequencing projects.

All humans have unique gene sequences. Therefore the data published by the HGP does not represent the exact sequence of each and every individual's genome. It is the combined genome of a small number of anonymous donors. The HGP genome is a scaffold for future work in identifying differences among individuals.

Benefits

The work on interpretation of genome data is still in its initial stages. It is anticipated that detailed knowledge of the human genome will provide new avenues for advances in medicine and biotechnology. Clear practical results of the project emerged even before the work was finished. For example, a number of companies, such as Myriad Genetics started offering easy ways to administer genetic tests that can show predisposition to a variety of illnesses, including breast cancer, disorders of hemostasis, cystic fibrosis, liver diseases and many others. Also, the etiologies for cancers, Alzheimer's disease and other areas of clinical interest are considered likely to benefit from genome information and possibly may lead in the long term to significant advances in their management.

There are also many tangible benefits for biological scientists. For example, a researcher investigating a certain form of cancer may have narrowed down his/her search to a particular gene. By visiting the human genome database on the world wide web, this researcher can examine what other scientists have written about this gene, including (potentially) the three-dimensional structure of its product, its function(s), its evolutionary relationships to other human genes, or to genes in mice or yeast or fruit flies, possible detrimental mutations, interactions with other genes, body tissues in which this gene is activated, diseases associated with this gene or other datatypes.

Further, deeper understanding of the disease processes at the level of molecular biology may determine new therapeutic procedures. Given the established importance of DNA in molecular biology and its central role in determining the fundamental operation of cellular processes, it is likely that expanded knowledge in this area will facilitate medical advances in numerous areas of clinical interest that may not have been possible without them.

The analysis of similarities between DNA sequences from different organisms is also opening new avenues in the study of the theory of evolution. In many cases, evolutionary questions can now be framed in terms of molecular biology; indeed, many major evolutionary milestones (the emergence of the ribosome and organelles, the development of embryos with body plans, the vertebrate immune system) can be related to the molecular level. Many questions about the similarities and differences between humans and our closest relatives (the primates, and indeed the other mammals) are expected to be illuminated by the data from this project.

The Personal Genome Project (from wikipedia.org)

The Personal Genome Project (PGP) aims to publish the complete genomes and medical records of several volunteers, in order to enable research into personalized medicine. It was initiated by Harvard University's George Church and announced in January 2006.

The project will publish the genotype (the full DNA sequence of all 46 chromosomes) of the volunteers, along with extensive information about their phenotype: medical records, various measurements, MRI images, etc. All data will be freely available over the Internet, so that researchers can test various hypotheses about the relationships among genotype, environment and phenotype.

All data will be published along with the volunteer's name (since full anonymity can never be guaranteed anyway). An important part of the project will be the exploration of the resulting risks to the participants, such as possible discrimination by insurers and employers if the genome shows a predisposition for certain diseases.

The Harvard Medical School Institutional Review Board requested that the first set of volunteers included the PGP director and other diverse stakeholders in the scientific, medical, and social implications of personal genomes, because they are well positioned to give highly informed consent. As sequencing technology becomes cheaper, and the societal issues mentioned above are worked out, it is hoped that a large number of volunteers from all walks of life will participate. The long-term goal is that every person have access to his or her genotype to be used for personalized medical decisions.

In an interview in December 2007, Church stated that the sequencing effort for the above individuals had started and that the participants would get a chance to redact their trait data before publication. He also announced that the project was about to expand considerably and would recruit 100,000 volunteers in 2008; these would have to pass a test before they can participate, to ensure that they are able to give fully informed consent.

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Using the following resources:

The Personal Genome Project

http://www.personalgenomes.org/

Who Owns the Human Genetic Code?

http://academic.udayton.edu/health/05bioethics/00ammons.htm

Personal Genome Project Makes Available The Personal Genome Of Volunteers

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Personal_Genome_Project_Makes_Available_The_Personal_Genome_Of_Volunteers_27013.html

How the Personal Genome Project coujld unlock the mysteries of life.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/stemcells/magazine/16-08/ff_church?currentPage=all

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Please respond to the prompt listed below. Publish your response as a comment to this post. When stating your opinion, consider issues of privacy, personal medical information, health insurance coverage of predisposed conditions, possible inheritance of genetic disorders to future generations etc.

“Would you volunteer to be part of the personal genome project?

Please reply to other student comments also!

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DNA webquest 10.23

2009-10-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Work through the following webquest to learn about DNA. Cut and paste these questions into an email. Use the links to investigate DNA replicatinion, transcription into mRNA and translation into production of proteins. Save your work in your email. You will NOT finish this in one class period. We will work on this once a week for 2-3 weeks.

REMEMBER TO OPEN AN EMAIL AND SAVE YOUR WORK.

When you are finished, please send your questions and answers to: doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com.

Questions? Ask in class or email back. Thanks, Mr. A

DNA Replication Webquest

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Go to:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/dna/shockwave-nojs.html

What is DNA?

Build a DNA molecule

Transcribe and Translate a Gene

What is a Protein?

How a Protein Functions

to answer the following questions.

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Answer the questions in complete sentences.

1. DNA is found on spools made of ?

2. What do enzymes do during DNA Replication?

3. How many chromosomes are in a human cell?

4. How many base pairs are found on the human chromosomes?

5. In your own words, how does DNA make copies of itself?

6. What are chromosomes composed of? How many do humans have?

7. How many cells does the average human have?

8. If the DNA from all the cell’s of the average person were stretched out, what distance could it travel

9. In replication, new DNA molecules have one old strand and one new. What is this called?

10. What does 3’ and 5’ represent in a DNA nucleotide

11. What molecule unwinds the DNA strand in replication? What separates the strands in both directions during the replication process?

12. Where does replication take place?

13. Does the sequence of amino acids in a protein make a difference? EXPLAIN

14. What are the three kinds of RNA

15. What is the name of the enzyme that causes the formation of the peptide bonds between amino acids during translation of protein synthesis?

16. Where does protein synthesis occur?

17. What are genes made of?

18. How is DNA packaged into chromosomes?

19. What is a codon?

20. What is an anticodon?

21. What are the three stop codons?

22. What are the nucleotide bases in DNA?

23. What are the nucleotide bases in RNA?

24. What is the shape of the DNA molecule?

25. What is a gene?

when medical research goes wrong...pd 4 IB MYP chem 10.14

2009-10-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Notice that there are two different forms or isomers of the same substance. They are mirror images of each other. One is beneficial in minimizing morning sickness during pregnancy. The other causes substantial birth defects if taken within the first 50 days of pregnancy.

Sometimes research into medicine and the commercial product sold create human tragedy. An example of this is the use of thalidomide by pregnant women in the 1950’s and 1960’s . Over 10,000 birth defects due to thalidomide were documented in Europe but only 17 cases in the US.

“Thalidomide (also known under the brand names Contergan^® in Germany and Kevadon^® in Canada and the United States) became infamous in the early 1960's in the context of one of the biggest drug disasters of recent history. The substance with the chemical name (±)-N-(2,6-Dioxo-3-piperidyl)phthalimide had been developed by the company Grünenthal and was soon prescribed as a sleep-inducing drug and to combat symptoms associated with morning sickness of pregnant women. However, when taken during the first trimester of pregnancy, thalidomide prevented the proper growth of the foetus, resulting in horrific birth defects such as severe deformations of the vertebral column and the extremities.” From medical news UK

Please follow the following links to learn more about thalidomide.

General information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidimide

Tony overcame his disability http://www.tonymelendez.com/

Current use(s) of this drug

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/thalidomide.shtml

Your assignment is to review the information on the links above and respond to the following questions.

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(1) What responsibility does the government have to protect people when new drugs are administered to its citizens?

(2) What responsibility does the research / drug company have?

(3) What responsibility does the pregnant women’s personal doctor have?

(4) What responsibility does the women (and/or her husband / family) have when taking newly marketed medicine(s)?

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Questions? Ask in class / email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

when medical research goes wrong.... pd 1 AP / IB chemistry 10.14

2009-10-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Please follow the following links to learn more about thalidomide.

General information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidimide

Tony overcame his disability http://www.tonymelendez.com/

Current use(s) of this drug

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/thalidomide.shtml

Your assignment is to review the information on the links above and respond to the following questions.

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(1) What responsibility does the government have to protect people when new drugs are administered to its citizens?

(2) What responsibility does the research / drug company have?

(3) What responsibility does the pregnant women’s personal doctor have?

(4) What responsibility does the women (and/or her husband / family) have when taking newly marketed medicine(s)?

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Questions? Ask in class / email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

When medical research goes wrong...IB MYP Bio pds 2,3,6 10.14

2009-10-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Please follow the following links to learn more about thalidomide.

General information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidimide

Tony overcame his disability http://www.tonymelendez.com/

Current use(s) of this drug

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/thalidomide.shtml

Your assignment is to review the information on the links above and respond to the following questions.

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(1) What responsibility does the government have to protect people when new drugs are administered to its citizens?

(2) What responsibility does the research / drug company have?

(3) What responsibility does the pregnant women’s personal doctor have?

(4) What responsibility does the women (and/or her husband / family) have when taking newly marketed medicine(s)?

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Questions? Ask in class / email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

When medical research goes wrong... IBDP Bio pd 5 10.14

2009-10-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Please follow the following links to learn more about thalidomide.

General information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidimide

Tony overcame his disability http://www.tonymelendez.com/

Current use(s) of this drug

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/thalidomide.shtml

Your assignment is to review the information on the links above and respond to the following questions.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(1) What responsibility does the government have to protect people when new drugs are administered to its citizens?

(2) What responsibility does the research / drug company have?

(3) What responsibility does the pregnant women’s personal doctor have?

(4) What responsibility does the women (and/or her husband / family) have when taking newly marketed medicine(s)?

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Questions? Ask in class / email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com

Who decides? (IBDP Biology pd 5 on 10.7)

2009-10-04T18:02:00.001-07:00

(from Wikipedia.org)

Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21 is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. Down syndrome is associated with some impairment of cognitive ability and physical growth as well as facial appearance. Down syndrome can be identified during pregnancy or at birth.

Individuals with Down syndrome tend to have a lower than average cognitive ability, often ranging from mild to moderate developmental disabilities. A small number have severe to profound mental disability. The incidence of Down syndrome is estimated at 1 per 800 to 1,000 births, although these statistics are heavily influenced by the age of the mother.

Health concerns for individuals with Down syndrome include a higher risk for congenital heart defects, gastroesophageal reflux disease, recurrent ear infections, obstructive sleep apnea, and thyroid dysfunctions.

Early childhood intervention, screening for common problems, medical treatment where indicated, a conducive family environment, and vocational training can improve the overall development of children with Down syndrome. Although some of the physical genetic limitations of Down syndrome cannot be overcome, education and proper care will improve quality of life.

Amniocentesis is a procedure that requires a withdrawal of a sample of amniotic fluid (fluid contains surface cells from the fetus) in the period of 16 – 30 weeks of gestation.

Chorionic villus sampling is a procedure whereby a sample of the fetal tissue partial buried in the wall of the uterus is removed. This occurs in the period 8 – 10 weeks into the pregnancy. It secures a tiny sample of cells that are actively dividing and can be analyzed quickly.

A karotype a an enlarged photograph showing the homologous chromosomes (side by side) which allows for analysis of genetic disorders such as an extra 21^st chromosome I Down’s syndrome.

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Consider the following::

1. Due to the low incidence of Down syndrome, a vast majority of early screen positives are false. Since false positives typically prompt an amniocentesis to confirm the result, and the amniocentesis carries a small risk of inducing miscarriage, there is a slight risk of miscarrying a healthy fetus.

2. A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies in the United States with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated.

3. A 1998 study of Finnish doctors found that "Only very few, pediatricians somewhat more often, thought that Down's syndrome is not a good enough reason for pregnancy termination, but more (15-21%) thought that current prenatal screenings in general are (partly) based on eugenic thinking.”

4. Some members of the disability rights movement "believe that public support for prenatal diagnosis and abortion based on disability contravenes the movement's basic philosophy and goals."

5. The additional support needs of people with Down syndrome can still pose a challenge to parents and families. Although living with family is preferable to institutionalization, people with Down syndrome often encounter patronizing attitudes and discrimination in the wider community.

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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph format. Publish your response as a comment to this post.

“Should genetic testing and intervention be required for women who are at-risk for certain genetic disorders?

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Questions? Ask in class or email me at doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com Thanks, Mr. A

Who decides? (IB MYP Biology pds 2,3,6 on 10.7)

2009-10-04T17:59:00.001-07:00

(from Wikipedia.org)

Amniocentesis is a procedure that requires a withdrawal of a sample of amniotic fluid (fluid contains surface cells from the fetus) in the period of 16 – 30 weeks of gestation.

A karotype a an enlarged photograph showing the homologous chromosomes (side by side) which allows for analysis of genetic disorders such as an extra 21^st chromosome I Down’s syndrome.

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Consider the following::

2. A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies in the United States with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated.

4. Some members of the disability rights movement "believe that public support for prenatal diagnosis and abortion based on disability contravenes the movement's basic philosophy and goals."

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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph format. Publish your response as a comment to this post.

“Should genetic testing and intervention be required for women who are at-risk for certain genetic disorders?

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Questions? Ask in class or email me at doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com Thanks, Mr. A

TOK Properties of Water (IB MYP Chem pd 4 9.24)

2009-09-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

TOK Properties of water

Homeopathy relies on the concept that solutions containing active substances can be repeatedly diluted to the point that the active substances are theoretically no longer present but the water retains the ‘memory’ of the active substance. This ‘memory’ is reputed to produce an effect in an individual person. There continues to be scientific debate about this principle. The claim has some evidence to support it, yet the concept that there is no active ingredient present in the solution conflicts with current scientific belief. Some describe homeopathy as pseudoscience (where a testable belief is accepted without being put through the rigour of the scientific method), others argue that all scientific theories begin with observations that are eventually supported by a body of evidence and that homeopathy is at this stage of the scientific method.

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Research into the claim that water has memory. Google homeopathy. After having read about this, address the following prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph.

Is homeopathy science?

Please comment to this post and "sign" your 11 sentence paragraph with your first name and last initial. Questions? Email me at doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com or ask in class. This needs to be published by Sunday 9.27.

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TOK Properties of Water (IBDP Bio pd 5 9.24)

2009-09-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

TOK Properties of Water (IB MYP Bio pds 2,3,6 9.24)

2009-09-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

TOK: Properties of Water (AP/IB Chemistry pd 1 9.24)

2009-09-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

TOK: Understanding the human tragedy of cancer. (IB DP Bio pd 5 9.15.9)

2009-09-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

from wikipedia.org

Cancer (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.

Cancer may affect people at all ages, even fetuses, but the risk for most varieties increases with age.^[1] Cancer causes about 13% of all human deaths.^[2] According to the American Cancer Society, 7.6 million people died from cancer in the world during 2007.^[3] Cancers can affect all animals.

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Please find "human stories" on the following conditions: (1) childhood cancer; (2) breast or prostate cancer; (3) lung cancer; (4) skin cancer (melanoma); and (5) your choice. Summarize the human tragedy for each in your comment to this post. Please "sign" your post with your first name and last initial. Questions? Ask in class or email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com. Thanks...

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TOK When are symbols necessary in aiding understanding and when are they redundant? (AP / IB Chemistry pd 1 9.14.9)

2009-09-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

How often when reading a news article do we say to ourselves “Why is that relevant?”; for example why do we need to know that the woman who appeared in court for shop-theft was age 37, or even that it was a woman come to that? (Though the English language, having “he” and “she”, but no gender neutral equivalent would make this difficult - what about other languages?) If pressed a journalist would probably talk about “human interest”. The same thing however arises in science - how much information does the person reading or work require; what is relevant and what irrelevant. In the case of state symbols then certainly it is relevant if the focus is thermochemistry because changes of state (like ice melting) involve heat changes. They are also probably useful when considering equilibrium (which side of the equation has most moles of gas?) or kinetics (water in thegas phase is much more “dilute” than as a liquid) and in electrolysis (molten and aqueous sodium chloride give different products). If the focus is purely stoichiometric however then the information may be redundant,

for example C6H6 + 3 H2 C6H12

one mole of benzene, whether it is in the liquid or gas phase, will still react with three moles of hydrogen (pretty safe to assume this is a gas!). Probably the best policy is to consider that you really do not know what use an equation may be put to, and so include state symbols just to be on the safe side (as we have in this book), but whether it adds human interest to these equations is another matter!

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Having read the above, please respond to the following prompt in an 11 sentence paragraph.
"In our 21st Century world, how much scientific / technological information do you need to know?" Please include examples and details. Post your paragraph as a comment and "sign" it with your first name and last initial. Questions? Ask in class or email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com. You need to complete this assignment on or before Monday 9.21

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08.24.09 TOK assignment in apibchemistry (pd 1)

2009-08-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

(from Chemistry 3rd edition by Green and Damji)

TOK: The scale of chemistry

‘Chemistry deals with enormous differences in scale. The magnitude of Avogadro’s constant is beyond the scale of our everyday experience’.

Dealing with very large and very small scales is almost impossible for the human brain - maybe it would disconcert our egos to be continually aware that we are infinitesimal dots living on an infinitesimal dot! So how can we try to come to terms with the enormous and minute numbers we meet in science? One approach is to try to apply the scale to things we are familiar with. For example if sand were made up of cubic grains 1 1/10th mm on each side, then what length of a beach 60 m deep and 1 1 km wide would 1 1 mole (i.e. 6 × 1 1023) of these form? The answer is about 1 10,000 km of it!!! Coming from the other end, suppose the population of the whole world (let’s say 4000 million people) were turned into atoms of gold (quite big, heavy atoms) our combined mass would be about one-millionth of a microgram, too small for any balance to detect (our grains of sand above would weigh about 2 μg) and we would form a cube with a side of about 1/50 μm, a factor of ten below the theoretical range of the best optical microscope. Hence we would not be able to detect ourselves! Fortunately we have mathematics to rely on, so we do not have to depend on being able to imagine these scales!

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Your assignment today is to find on the internet a couple of examples of the magnitude of Avogadro's number (6.02 E23). Also, to opine on this prompt from a scientific perspective, "How do we know what we know?".... Please share your examples and your 11 sentence paragraph opinion as a comment to this post. You can post anonymously but remember to "sign" your comment with your first name and last initial. NO FULL NAMES.

Questions? email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com or ask in class. Thanks, Mr. A

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08.24.09 TOK assignment in ibmypchem (pd 4)

2009-08-22T11:32:00.001-07:00

from Biology 3rd edition by Weem et all..

TOK: What is a scientific theory?

The natural sciences use the scientific method to explain the physical world. The scientific method begins with observations. These observations are used to develop a possible explanation, or hypothesis. The hypothesis is tested through further observations or experiments. Each observation or experimental result is compared to the hypothesis to determine if the hypothesis is valid. If the hypothesis is supported repeatedly it can be confirmed.

Scientific theories or laws are the result of the thorough testing of hypotheses in a wide range of circumstances. The term theory in a scientific sense means that the hypothesis is supported by a large body of evidence and is the best explanation that scientists agree upon. The cell theory flowed from several related hypotheses that were tested over many years. It was confirmed as a theory after many observations and experiments made by a large number of scientists.

If new evidence comes to light that contradicts or does not fit the explanations made by a theory, the theory will need to be re-examined to determine if it is still valid. The theory may be modified or rejected altogether if it cannot account for the new observations.

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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt from a scientific perspective, "How do we know what we know?".... Please share your 11 sentence paragraph opinion as a comment to this post. You can post anonymously but remember to "sign" your comment with your first name and last initial. NO FULL NAMES.

Questions? email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com or ask in class. Thanks, Mr. A

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08.24.09 TOK assignment in ibdpbio (pd 5)

2009-08-22T11:30:00.001-07:00

Critical considerations: ethics of use of embryonic stem cells.

The following two extracts were parts of testimonies to the US National Bioethics Advisory Commission.They represent the views of members of the Islamic and Roman Catholic faiths.

As stated by Abdulaziz Sachedina, University of Virginia

“… it is possible to propose the following as acceptable to all schools of thought in Islam.

1. The Koran and the Tradition regard perceivable human life as possible at the later stages of the biological development of the embryo.

2. A fetus is accorded the status of legal person only at the latter stages of its development, when perceptible form and voluntary movement are demonstrated. Hence, in earlier stages, such as when it lodges itself in the uterus and begins its journey to personhood, the embryo cannot be considered as possessing moral status.

3. The silence of the Koran over a criterion for moral status (i.e. when the ensoulment occurs) of the fetus allows a distinction between a biological and a moral person, placing the latter stage after, at least, the first trimester of pregnancy.

In Islam, research on stem cells made possible by biotechnical intervention in the early stages of life is regarded as an act of faith in the ultimate will of God as the Giver of all life, as long as such an intervention is undertaken with the purpose of improving human health.”

As stated by Kevin Wildes, Georgetown University

“… I do not think one can argue that there is, in Roman Catholic thought, opposition to stem cell research itself. The crucial moral issues and stumbling blocks are the problem of the derivation of the stem cells used in the research itself. That is, the destruction of embryos or the use of fetal tissue from abortion are the key moral problems. If you think that embryos should be treated as human persons, then it makes sense to argue that they should not be destroyed for purposes of research. However, if there were a way to conduct stem cell research without destroying human life, either embryonic or fetal, I do not think the Roman Catholic tradition would have a principled opposition to such research. It is important to point out, however, that there is no single Roman Catholic “ position” on this topic or many moral topics. In addition, if one thinks with a Roman Catholic imagination, one must also ask about the questions of justice in devoting resources, especially national resources, to such research when there are so many other basic medical and health needs that are unmet.”

Excepted from pages 17 and 18 in Biology: A Course Companion, Allott A. and Mindorff, D., Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Your required assignment is to reflect upon the above comments and then to review the basic viewpoints on stem cell research which can be accessed here. Having read through the arguments both for and against embryonic stem cell use in medical research, please comment on this post by stating your opinion and incorporating one or more of the arguments stated in the viewpoints. Your post should be in an 11 sentence format. Your comment will be entered below. Remember to post anonymously but "sign" your post with your first name and last initial. NO FULL NAMES please.

Questions? email doug.abshire.achs@gmail.com or call 303-853-7786

Thanks, Mr. A

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08.24.09 TOK assignment in ibmypbio (pds 2, 3 and 6)

2009-08-18T19:31:00.000-07:00