1. Why are we distinctively human rather than largely bovine, given the fact that we share 80% of our DNA with cows?
2. Critics of the standard Mendelian gene-centric view want to depose genes as what?
3. Who "gathered all the threads of the modern synthesis... into a single shimmering magic carpet"?
4. What's P.Z. Myers's apt analogy for epistasis?
5. What's the neat 3-step of the selfish gene model that makes it so appealing?
6. What's the mainstream scientific perspective on race?
7. Why do genetic ancestry tests fall outside the FDA's regulatory authority?
8. Why does Obasogie think government has a moral and ethical responsibility to support race impact assessments of new biotechnologies?
DQ
Health news... weekly health news quiz
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Th 18 - Beyond 53-54; Report: Chris, Nathan
1. Advocates for a moratorium on germline engineering advocate what actions?
2. "Our universities need to devote more resources" to what?
3. Name a current practice applying emergent biotechnologies that challenges core progressive and liberal values.
4. Why did some progressives who support stem cell research oppose the 2004 California stem cell initiative?
5. Paul Wolpe says presidential bioethics commissions should stay away from what?
6. What do "some feminists and social liberals and progressives... [and] free market liberals and economic conservatives" say about commercial reproductive surrogacy?
7. What did Gregory Stock say was the goal of the 1998 UCLA conference where James Watson said we should maximize the common good?
DQ
7. Why do genetic ancestry tests fall outside the FDA's regulatory authority?
8. Why does Obasogie think government has a moral and ethical responsibility to support race impact assessments of new biotechnologies?
DQ
- COMMENT: "You are 80% cow." Is that in any way a misleading statement, or one that is likely to be misunderstood?
- If genes are collaborators and not architects in the expression of traits, are they democratic or autocratic collaborators?
- Are genes like quarterbacks who call the plays themselves, or who receive them from the sidelines? (And who or what is the sideline analogue, in this analogy?)
- "Nobody thinks just the quarterback wins the game," but teams with bad quarterbacks rarely win. Are genes like good quarterbacks, for those who've won the genetics game?
- Is altruism really altruistic, if it can be precisely quantified mathematically? 450
- Are you annoyed that Franklin is not mentioned along with Watson and Crick on 450, when West-Eberhard's gender is flagged as unduly slighted just a few pages later? 457
- "Genes do not exist for us, we exist for them." Agree?
- Has Richard Dawkins's crusading atheism detracted from his scientific credibility?
- Have you read The Selfish Gene? Was "selfish" the right word for what Dawkins meant to communicate? Would The Persistent/Inexorable/Immortal Gene have caught the public imagination to the same extent?
- How might an "extended modern synthesis" incorporate the insights of epigenetics?
- How do we balance a deep respect for "our common humanity" with the research imperative to discover the genetic variation responsible for the incidence of disease among specific racial/ethnic populations?
Health news... weekly health news quiz
==
Th 18 - Beyond 53-54; Report: Chris, Nathan
1. Advocates for a moratorium on germline engineering advocate what actions?
2. "Our universities need to devote more resources" to what?
3. Name a current practice applying emergent biotechnologies that challenges core progressive and liberal values.
4. Why did some progressives who support stem cell research oppose the 2004 California stem cell initiative?
5. Paul Wolpe says presidential bioethics commissions should stay away from what?
6. What do "some feminists and social liberals and progressives... [and] free market liberals and economic conservatives" say about commercial reproductive surrogacy?
7. What did Gregory Stock say was the goal of the 1998 UCLA conference where James Watson said we should maximize the common good?
DQ
- Will greater understanding of the technological details of CRISPR clarify our ethical responsibilities with regard to its use?
- COMMENT: "Knowing science does not teach us how to live well with its power."
- "When and how should children conceived with high-tech assistance learn that they have two or three biological mothers?"
- "Should researchers transfer human genes or brain cells into non-human animals?"
- "Should researchers attempt to use cloning techniques to resurrect a Neanderthal?" (or a mammoth, or... ?)
- "How can we prevent harmful uses of human biotechnologies while preserving our commitment to science as a reliable method for producing shared knowledge?"
- Are you uneasy about chimeras?
- Should presidential bioethics commissions issue ethical recommendations?
- Should marketplace values govern pregnancy and childbearing?
- COMMENT: "If scientists don't play god, who will?" 485
- Is our fate in our genes?
COMMENT: "You are 80% cow." Is that in any way a misleading statement, or one that is likely to be misunderstood?
ReplyDeleteThe statement isn’t necessarily misleading, but it’s really easy to misunderstand. For the average person, to say that someone is 80% cow means that said person should probably have a pattern of black blotches on their skin in the form of a Wisconsin dairy cow, possess a strange desire to chew grass, and perhaps have the name “Bessie.” I understand the desire for a bit of shock value for the statement. It’s meant to draw attention and provoke discussion about shared DNA. However, in this day and age of headline-only news reading, this is very likely to be misinterpreted in the general public or ignored because it sounds like it belongs on the cover of the National Enquirer.
"Nobody thinks just the quarterback wins the game," but teams with bad quarterbacks rarely win. Are genes like good quarterbacks, for those who've won the genetics game?
ReplyDeleteGenes are kind of like quarterbacks. In football, everything runs through the quarterback on the offensive side of the ball. Teams with good quarterbacks have a much better chance of success than those who do not have such talent under center. It certainly makes everything easier, and teams who have the quarterback position taken care of have much more freedom to gameplan and implement more exciting plays. Likewise, people who have good genes have more “freedom,” for lack of a better word, to do more. Perhaps they are better equipped genetically for long-distance running, or have a better affinity for muscle-building. Some people have genetic traits that make their physical appearance more attractive to other humans, increasing their ability to find a mate. This genetic edge doesn’t guarantee success, however, any more than a good quarterback guarantees success in football. Quarterbacks like Dan Marino, Michael Vick, and Steve McNair were all fantastic talents who excelled at their position, but their teams never won a championship. Likewise, teams can win without all-world talents at the quarterback position. See the Broncos, Ravens, and Buccaneers in their most recent Super Bowl wins for further examples. It’s more difficult to overcome a bad quarterback, but it is possible. The same applies to genes. If a person has bad or defective genes, it certainly isn’t the end of the world, but some things, depending on what the genes control, may be more difficult than for those with better genes.
Alt Quiz Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Successful impact assessments need to develope out of what? (467)
2. What did NEPA sign into law in 1970? (464)
3. What is shaping lay opinions about the relevence of genes to racial disparities in social and health outcomes? (461)
4. How dis African bees become genetically distinct from European honeybees according to Robinson? (458)
5. What did Massimo Piglucci and Gerd Miller mean be "the gene follows"? (457)
6. What word carries half a dozen meanings even as a technical term? (454)
7. What does Michael Eisen say about the gene-centric view? (452)
8. Who's theory did Mendel's work fill a gap in? (449)
1)"robust empirical examinations of each agency's organizational design and culture in relation to current decision-making processes on race related innovations-info. not yet fully available."
Delete2)requirement for federal agencies to determine whether certain proposed actions might have an adverse effect on the human enviornment.
4) Their hives were and are more raided by predators than other bee's hives elsewhere
5) that in complex organisms, dynamics other than gene alterations, ranging from gene expression to complex gene regulation to developmental pathways formed by culture, can create heritable adaptations that either remain on their own or later become fixed or locked away by genes.
6)gene
7)it is an artifact of history
8)Darwin's theory of evolution.
Is altruism really altruistic, if it can be precisely quantified mathematically? 450.
ReplyDeleteScientifically, altruism is not trully altruistic in nature since what is seen as altruism is only to expand one's own gene pool. However, at some point, i believe altruism is wholly altruistic in how we go into great lengths sometimes to help others who have no genetic relation to us in society for the sake of doing something good.
DQ:
ReplyDeleteIf the gene-centric view is an artifact of history, why is it still being taught as the main focus in high school and even some college courses? Shouldn't they focus on the more modern way of viewing genes?
Cow genes, or even banana's(https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/humans-share-50-dna-bananas-2482139), are all organizations of proteins made in different ways. As Richard Dawkins says in his book The Selfish Gene(https://edoc.pub/dawkins-the-selfish-gene-pdf-library-pdf-free.html), generally, all creatures are vehicles for the transport of DNA.
ReplyDelete1. Human biotechnologies raise an additional challenge because of what? (488)
ReplyDelete2. What did the National Academy of Sciences and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine rule? (487)
3. What scandal happened in 2005? (487)
4. What famous scientist cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996? (487)
5. When did progressives take a wrong turn? (486)
6. Why was the L5 Society formed in 1975? (485)
7. What was Oprah Winfrey’s view on surrogacy? (485)
1)Because of the moral dilemmas they raise.
Delete2)That women could be reimbursed for expenses they incur in the course of egg-harvesting procedures, but not beyond that.
3)Researcher Hwang Woo Suk was found to have fabricated his data claiming he produced stem cells from a cloned embryo.
4)Ian Wilmut
5)When they interpreted what Chris Mooney called the "Republican War on Science" as primarily a rigourous crusade rather than one also significantly driven by corporate interests.
6) To promote visions of space colonies and advocate a variety of techno-utopian fantasies. "The meek shall inherit the earth. The strong and the wise will keep moving."
7)That it was outsourcing not exploitation.
DQ:"Should researchers attempt to use cloning techniques to resurrect a Neanderthal?" (or a mammoth, or... ?)
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the warning the Jurassic park movies give, whether cloned animals deserve the same ethical standards that we give to animals. I think that this brings up an issue of autonomy, while animals cannot communicate how they feel about being cloned I think we have the responsibility to discuss the possible ethical implications that come with the re-creation of life.
I think one of the hardest things here is coming to a consenses of fundamental morals. Some people believe in the sanctity of gene pool or life others (nihilist) do not. Ultimately it seems as if coming to agreement of these fundamental beliefs will never happen or will be very difficult. I think the first step is determining where the majority of humans stand or what we believe regarding the importance of life. What do you all think?
Quiz questions:
ReplyDeleteWhat did a Dutch researcher at Erasmus University seek out to create to prove its potential risk?
What is our duty as citizens, which is parallel to the duty of governments?
Why do universities need to devote more resources to teaching the relationship between science, technology, and society?
How much are fertility clinics willing to pay college students in exchange for their eggs?
What two currents are overwhelming liberal and progressive thought regarding biological enhancement?
What does Robert Reich argue that there is no substitute for?
Which document states that “organ trafficking and transplant tourism violate the principles of equity, justice, and respect for human dignity and should be prohibited”?
Why is India an attractive location for international surrogacy?
What patterns regarding scientific progress did the George W. Bush administration follow?
Alternate Quiz Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What genes ressurected anxietied that Asilomar scientists never diffused or eliminated? (473)
2. An effective moratorium must be grounded in what principle? (474)
3. What do applications of emerging technologies pose challenges to? (476)
4. When is social justice and solidarity tend to be shortchanged? (477)
5. Who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what does it assert? (483)
6. Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights organizations have begun to appreciate the limitations of what? (484)
7. What is the "rent-a-womb" phenomenon? (484)
8. What is James Watson an advocate of? (485)
9. What was the goal of the UCLA conference? (486)
DQ:
Why do you think that there have been very few studies on the health risks of egg extraction? (487)
2. Power to modify the genome demand system serious engagement from all citizens
Delete5. United Nations commission, meeting the requirements of democratic society
6. The limitation of the choice framework
7. Payment of surrogates pregnancies, especially in India
8. New eugenics
Will greater understanding of the technological details of CRISPR clarify our ethical responsibilities with regard to its use?
ReplyDeleteI believe that a further understanding of CRISPR will definitely clarify the ethical reaponsibilites with regards to its use that are in question today; however, i believe that there will be a multitude of more ethical issues that will arise that we cannont even begin to concieve of today.