Week 11, Chapter 8 -- Starting Assumptions Course home | Weekly schedule | Announcements | Instructor Info | Desire2Learn | MasteringBiology® | Honor Code | FAQs | HELP!

Instructions:

Part 1:

Read through the questions below. Record a video, 60 seconds minimum, in response to one or more of the questions below that interest you. Also, please provide your first name on the video, mention OU's Biology 1003 course, and tell which week's assignment it is.

Technical details: You should be able to record this video on a smartphone, iPad, digital camera, or webcam. If you need equipment, check with the Student Learning Center in Wagner Hall 245. You can log in to mymedia.ou.edu to either record a video directly there or to upload your previously recorded video file (make sure you set the permissions to allow us to view it; DON'T make it "private"). Then, you can post a hyperlink to the file or embed it in your D2L discussion board forum. Alternatively, you're welcome to post your video at a publicly accessible site at your own risk (e.g., YouTube, dropbox.com, portfolio.ou.edu, or your own server space), and post a stable, hyperlinked address to your production in the D2L forum.

Part 2:

Post a typed response to the Starting Assumptions posts of at least two other students. (If you are the first or second person to post, you will have to check back later to complete this part of the assignment).

• Please spell check and proofread your typed responses.
• Please respond to posts with 0 responses first; once every post has at least one response, you are free to choose any post to respond to.
• When you respond, please use the name of the student you are responding to. That is, say "Hi Jessica" or "Hi Paul" so that you can get used to the names of the people in class. (You can find a list of "real" names and preferred names posted on D2L).
• What constitutes a substantive response? This means that you have read and thought about the original post, and that after some reflection, you are extending one or more of the thoughts in the original post or offering an additional perspective as you might in a good conversation. It is not enough to say simply "nice job," "I liked that," "I think you're right about XXXX," "I disagree," etc. It is OK to disagree or agree, but the goal is to thoughtfully add something else interesting and new related to the content of the original post. At a minimum this should be at least 50 words, and 50-100 is preferable. Check out this page for more on the topic of good and bad responses.

After you have posted your video and responded to at least two other students, go to Desire2Learn and complete the Gradebook Declaration for this week's Starting Assumptions assignment. (Do not declare that you have completed these assignments until AFTER you have made your posts. Your Gradebook Declaration is subject to the Honor Code.)

Here are the questions to get you started:

• DNA fingerprinting is a powerful tool that has been used to convict guilty individuals and to exonerate innocent ones (see The Innocence Project). However, there are still drawbacks to this technology as it is subject to human error in the laboratory and it can only give the probability that the DNA sample does not belong to another human being. Some people argue that with DNA fingerprinting, we are unlikely to wrongly convict individuals of a crime. Therefore, capital punishment is more justifiable than ever. What are your feelings on this topic?
• In late 1996, an OU student was raped and murdered by a then-unknown assailant. The police collected and stored DNA evidence from the victim’s body. Because they knew it might take a long time before they could find the attacker, the district attorney charged “John Doe” with the crime (the purpose was to avoid the statute of limitations for rape charges). At the time, they did not know who “John Doe” was – he was only identified by his DNA sequence. In February 2005 a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to take a suspect to trial for the 1996 murder based on DNA evidence, and in February 2006, Anthony Sanchez was found guilty of rape and murder, partly on the strength of that evidence. He was later sentenced to death. Prosecutors in other states have also used the same strategy to keep the statute of limitations from running out on unsolved rape cases. Public defenders disapprove of this practice, in part because DNA evidence degrades over time. Do you think prosecutors should be able to charge a person who is known only by his or her DNA sequence?
• Should DNA fingerprinting evidence be required when a man denies being the father of a child? Why or why not? If you think a DNA test should be required, who should pay for it?
• Do you think that people accused of a crime should be compelled to give a DNA sample upon their arrest?
• Do you think there should be a national DNA crime database, and if so, who should be in it?
• Do you have siblings? A fraternal twin? An identical twin? Are your siblings like you or unlike you? Do you ever wonder how the same two parents can produce such different types of offspring?
• Has DNA technology changed your life in any tangible way?
• Have you ever heard of eugenics? Do you think that DNA technology will help prevent future eugenics movements (by revealing our inherent similarities)? Or do you think it will promote discrimination as scientists discover genes that contribute to “undesirable” traits?
• Should employers have the right to require genetic testing?
• Should couples see genetic counselors before they get married?
  

Contemporary Issues in Biology -- BIOL 1003 Mariëlle H. Hoefnagels, Ph.D. © 2004-2015. biology1003 at OU dot edu (at = @, dot =.) Last Updated August 5, 2014 11:02 PM