Natural Sciences Unit

NS-1
NS-2
NSProject

Genetics

Choose a topic to research related to genetics and the uses of DNA cloning. Your topic should have some sort of controversy associated with it, perhaps an ethical issue or a disagreement about its proper use or procedure. For your final paper, you will have to take a position on the issue.

Some possible topics and first sources:

Gene therapy and cystic fibrosis

Gene therapy and cancer

Gene therapy and disease x

Genetics and anthropology

Human Genome Project

Genetically engineered produce

Transgenic Animals

Pre-Natal Diagnosis



Some useful magazines and journals which may help you with your research and to discover other topics :

NS-1

For this unit, you are expected to write in an appropriate style for the natural sciences. The purpose of this assignment is to help you further define what that style is, while also providing you some background information on genetics.
This assignment asks you to compare two articles on DNA-fingerprinting, one professional and one non-professional:

1. Ford, S.; Thompson, W.C. A question of identity: some reasonable doubts about DNA "Fingerprints." The Sciences 30:37-43
2. Hagelberg, E.; Gray, I.C.; Jeffreys, A.J. Identification of the skeletal remains of a murder victim by DNA analysis. Nature 352:427-29; 1991.

I will provide each group with a copy of each article. Group members should arrange among themselves when each person will photocopy the master copy. You may also find the articles in their original sources.

Pre-writing:

Begin analyzing the rhetorical and formal features of the two articles by answering the following questions:

1. What approach does the author use in the introduction?
2. What kinds of evidence does the author use? What are acceptable sources of evidence?
3. How is the article organized?
4. What information does the author assume the reader knows? What basic information does the author provide?
5. Describe the style and tone, providing specific examples.

Answer each question in full. One paragraph per answer. You will be asked to turn in a copy of the pre-writing, but keep a copy for yourself to use when writing your paper.

The Assignment (2 pages):

Using your pre-writing as a starting point and these two articles as evidence, answer the question, what is the difference between professional and non-professional writing in the natural sciences?

NS-2 Research Proposal (2-3 pages)

Write a research proposal for your unit project. Your paper should follow the format and contents outlined in Zimmerman, pages 63-64, copies of which I will provide and you will need to photocopy. The proposal should include a clear statement of your purpose for the project. The literature review section need not cite more than a few sources, but it should provide necessary background information and identify the various sides of a controversy surrounding this particular genetic research. The methodology section should indicate what additional sources might prove helpful. Also include a timetable. You do not need to include a budget section.

NS Project: Thesis Research Paper (5 pages)

You are a scientist working for the National Science Foundation. You have received a request for funding on a particular type of genetic research (your paper topic). You are to write a 5 page report for the grant review panel, in which you recommend whether or not further funding is warranted. For this paper, you will need to take a position and support it using scientific evidence uncovered during your research. A major portion of your paper will involve identifying and addressing the controversies surrounding this research. Is the controversy great enough and valid enough that you as a scientist cannot recommend funding further research? As part of your paper, you will want to summarize and refute counter arguments. Since your report will be going to a government panel, which will consist of scientists not necessarily in your field, your paper should be written in an appropriate style for the natural sciences but for a less professional audience.

You should use a minimum of 5 scientific sources. At least one of these sources, not including the first sources listed on this sheet, must be from a professional journal. One of the first sources listed can count. You may supplement your research with non-professional sources (e.g. Newsweek), but these magazines will not count towards your five. Because scientific research quickly becomes out of date, your five sources must be written after 1990. Use proper documentation for the natural sciences, and attribute your sources properly.

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Created on: Sun Jan 26 21:05:16 EST 1997