I'm interested in these topics, and I've been researching these and similar issues for a couple years. For my Genetics, Evolution and Society class I'm to write an essay on one of these or something similar. I was wondering what issues stick out to you as interesting or controversial. You don't need any sound reasoning to support your answer, its merely a personal choice. That said, please briefly outline what it was about that topic that made you choose it.

Thanks!

Genetic privacy by far. Ever see the movie Gattaca?

All the others are kind of talked to death in my mind.

i said stem cell research. i feel like once people get smart and let it be. medical stuff will advace a shitload.

Yeah that movie is intellectually stimulating for sure. It touches on a variety of issues.
Thanks for your input!




It is quite possible you are right. Stem cells promise a lot, but cross some lines outside of the scientific community. As Sioux mentioned I believe this topic is talked to death...

shoot genetics is a hard class...i cant do probabilities at all.

but cloning is big when it comes to human cloning, or cloning for humanly uses.

I'd go with GMO's, just because they're such a part of our life and don't seem like they're going anywhere

Lol yeah, one of the final exam questions concerns GMO's and the essay is supposed to concern different subject matter. Forces you to study a broader range of material etc...

No doubt GMO's are an interesting topc. Such as deciding if it is ethical / should be legal to patent a life form. Or decide in what manner if at all GM foods should be labelled. Or if we should legitimize businesses that creat more debt in third world countries through products like Monsanto's terminator crops.

A genetic counselor is a medical genetics expert with a master of science degree. In the USA they are certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling [1]. Most enter the field from a variety of disciplines, including biology, genetics, nursing, psychology, public health and social work. Genetic counselors are expert educators, skilled in translating the complex language of genomic medicine into terms that are easy to understand.

Genetic counselors work as members of a health care team and act as a patient advocate as well as a genetic resource to physicians. Genetic counselors provide information and support to families who have members with birth defects or genetic disorders, and to families who may be at risk for a variety of inherited conditions. They identify families at risk, investigate the problems present in the family, interpret information about the disorder, analyze inheritance patterns and risks of recurrence and review available testing options with the family.

Genetic counselors are present at high risk or specialty prenatal clinics that offer prenatal diagnosis, pediatric care centers, and adult genetic centers. Genetic counseling can occur before conception (i.e. when one or two of the parents are carriers of a certain trait) through to adulthood (for adult onset genetic conditions such as Huntington's disease or hereditary cancer syndromes).

Nulled, I have ethics.

This post was edited by Bear_Grylls on Mar 15 2010 03:24pm