General Catalog 2024-25

Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Sequence of entire human genome is now known. Consideration of how this knowledge impacts concepts of ourselves as individuals and of our place in biological universe, concepts of race/ethnicity and gender, ability of DNA-based forensics to identify specific individuals, ownership and commodification of genes, issues of privacy and confidentiality, issues of genetic discrimination, issues of predictive genetic testing. Discussion of human cloning for reproductive and therapeutic purposes. Exposure to medical genetics cases. Discussion of role of whole genome sequencing in clinical setting. Human Genome Project influence on medicine and on our concepts of self and identity. Letter grading.