Friday, February 23, 2007

Bioethics & You (Friday & Saturday Classes)

Students debated the ethics of genetically modified organisms (GMO's) using the case studies they read for homework (yes, I actually forgot to post the homework...sorry Mike H.).

Case Studies were taken from the High School Bioethics Project and included the following briefs:

1. Patenting Life: Chakrabarty (bacteria engineered to "eat" crude oil)
2. Patenting Life: Of (spliced) Mice and Men (the Harvard Oncomouse)
3. Food & Drinks: GM Wine (GM grapes that grow in Florida)
4. Food & Drinks: Starlink Corn (Corn made for animal consumption and ended up in the human food supply)
5. Food & Drinks: GM Coffee (Coffee that can be ripened by the addition of a chemical)
6. The Forest for the Trees: GM Trees for paper production

There are only 2 more classes before the final exam!
General Bio homework: Complete pages: 77,79,81,83,85 and 87 in the review packet. This will take you about an hour and is due in class on Monday