FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR 268K Beyond the Hype of Medical Miracles: Stem Cells, Gene Therapy, and other Cutting-Edge Medical Research
Monday/Wednesday, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Dr. Kenneth Frauwirth, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics

It is becoming difficult to pick up a newspaper or news magazine or watch TV news without seeing a story about the latest in biotechnology or medical research. Such high-profile research is often portrayed as being on the brink of providing “miracle” cures, but seldom does it live up to the hype. In this course we will look beyond media sound-bites at today’s promising medical research, such as stem cell research, gene therapy, and genetically modified organisms in agriculture. We will discuss the basic scientific principles behind the research, with an eye toward making realistic projections of the potential applications. How well does research in mice, or fruit flies, or cells grown in Petri dishes, translate into results in people? We will also put the research into a societal context, examining how economics, ethics, and politics combine to promote or hinder the progression from scientific breakthrough to medical reality. The course will begin with several lectures covering basic cell, developmental, and molecular biology, but will then mainly consist of guided discussion of readings from scientific journals, news media, and government documents. Students will be responsible for participating in discussions, completing several short papers, and a final research paper.

CORE–Life Sciences, non-lab [LS]