A Knowledge Base for Teaching Biology Situated in the Context of Genetic Testing

Recent developments in the field of genomics will impact the daily practice of biology teachers who teach genetics in secondary education. This study reports on the first results of a research project aimed at enhancing biology teacher knowledge for teaching genetics in the context of genetic testing. The increasing body of scientific knowledge concerning genetic testing and the related consequences for decision-making indicate the societal relevance of such a situated learning approach. What content knowledge do biology teachers need for teaching genetics in the personal health context of genetic testing? This study describes the required content knowledge by exploring the educational practice and clinical genetic practices. Nine experienced teachers and 12 respondents representing the clinical genetic practices (clients, medical professionals, and medical ethicists) were interviewed about the biological concepts and ethical, legal, and social aspects (ELSA) of testing they considered relevant to empowering students as future health care clients. The ELSA suggested by the respondents were complemented by suggestions found in the literature on genetic counselling. The findings revealed that the required teacher knowledge consists of multiple layers that are embedded in specific genetic test situations: on the one hand, the knowledge of concepts represented by the curricular framework and some additional concepts (e.g. multifactorial and polygenic disorder) and, on the other hand, more knowledge of ELSA and generic characteristics of genetic test practice (uncertainty, complexity, probability, and morality). Suggestions regarding how to translate these characteristics, concepts, and ELSA into context-based genetics education are discussed.     

Making Science Vivid: Using a historical episodes map

Many have argued that the inclusion of the history of science in science teaching might promote an understanding of the nature of science as well as the attitudes toward science. However, its inclusion in science teaching may not have the desired effect due to the limited coverage it receives in textbooks and the limited time available for teaching. A historical episodes map (HEM) is thus developed with four storylines and more than 20 events related to the history of science and is designed to fit in with regular teaching topics. A total of 329 students in Grade 7 were involved in the experimental group and the control group. The control group was taught using the textbook only, while the experimental group was also taught using the textbook plus HEM materials and associated discussion. The intervention of such teaching lasted for a month and a half. The findings reveal that the exposure of students to HEM materials did promote the students’ understanding of the nature of science as well as their attitudes toward science.     

Genetic and Rare Disease Diagnoses: A Review of Resources for Patients and Health Care Professionals

Abstract

This article reviews genetic and rare disease resources from the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health that assist patients and their families to decipher the complexity of rare and genetically related diseases. Librarians can use these resources to guide those seeking genetic information that encompasses the medical, social, psychological, and financial aspects of living with a rare disease. Physicians and healthcare professionals will find these resources helpful when assisting patients and engaging in genetic research.     

Supporting Inquiry Processes with an Interactive Learning Environment: Inquiry Island

This research addresses the effectiveness of an interactive learning environment, Inquiry Island, as a general-purpose framework for the design of inquiry-based science curricula. We introduce the software as a scaffold designed to support the creation and assessment of inquiry projects, and describe its use in a middle-school genetics unit. Students in the intervention showed significant gains in inquiry skills. We also illustrate the power of the software to gather and analyze qualitative data about student learning.     

Teaching for genetics literacy in the post-genomic era

Research in genetics and genomics is advancing at a fast pace, and thus keeping up with the most recent findings and conclusions can be very challenging. At the same time these recent findings and conclusions have made necessary a reconceptualization of genes and heredity, both in science and in science education, beyond the mostly gene-centred view of the twentieth century. The teaching of genetics at schools should have a key role in helping students achieve genetics literacy. However, the literature on research in genetics education reports persistent difficulties and misunderstandings. We first consider the public understanding of and the attitudes towards genetics. Then, we review the most recent literature and present the most typical conceptions found among secondary students in various countries, ages and backgrounds. We argue that particular factors such as intuitive thinking, teachers, textbooks, and the media affect students’ development of erroneous or outdated ideas related to genetics. Finally, we suggest how these problems might be addressed in order for genetics teaching at the secondary level to fulfil the aim of contributing to students’ genetics literacy in the current post-genomic era.     

美国基因技术与专利制度的互动诉求及趋势——以Myriad Genetics案的起因为视角

高价值基因专利权人利益与人类生命健康权益的冲突、美国专利制度对科研豁免规定的严格条件、美国专利法对专利权客体所持的开放、包容态度,这既是Myriad Genetics案发生的根源所在,也传达了基因技术与专利制度的互动诉求。美国联邦最高法院作出的关于分离的DNA序列不具备可专利性的回应只是暂时平息基因专利争议的权宜之计,远未实现基因技术与专利制度的良性互动。通过适度放宽科研豁免条件、限缩基因类专利的客体范围,以平衡基因技术专利权人利益与人类生命健康权益,推动基因专利制度的优化趋势。     

Differential genetic etiology of reading disability as a function of mathematics performance

In order to assess the etiology of reading disability as a function of mathematics performance, data from 168 monozygotic (MZ) and 127 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs in which at least one member of each pair was reading-disabled were subjected to quantitative genetic analyses. MZ and DZ concordance rates for reading disability were computed for different levels of mathematics performance, and reading performance data were fitted to an extension of the basic multiple regression model for the analysis of selected twin data. Results of these analyses suggest that genetic factors may be especially salient as a cause of reading disability in children with borderline deficits in mathematics performance: thus, mathematics performance may be a valid dimension for diagnosing subtypes of reading disability.     

Differential risk for developmental reading disorders in the offspring of compensated versus noncompensated parents

When one or both parents have a history of developmental reading disorder (RD) in childhood, the risk to their offspring for developing reading problems is substantially increased. However, risk research has usually assumed a stability of reading problems across the lifespan (i.e., if a parent was affected in childhood, he or she remains affected in adulthood). Yet, some individuals with RD in childhood compensate for the disorder as they grow older. Both an environmental and genetic hypothesis would predict that the risk for RD in offspring will vary as a function of parental compensation. This study examined whether risk to offspring was dependent on the parents' successful or unsuccessful compensation for their childhood reading problems. Two large family data sets were analyzed (N=907). Diagnoses with either an age discrepant or IQ discrepant criteria essentially showed that having at least one still affected parent (i.e., RD both as a child and as an adult) put the offspring at a higher risk for RD than having at least one compensated parent (i.e., RD as a child but not as an adult). The lowest risk to an offspring occurred when both parents were never affected (i.e., not RD as a child or as an adult). The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to counseling and early diagnosis of reading problems.     

Property Rights in Genetic Information

The primary theme of this paper is the normative case against ownership of one's genetic information along with the source of that information (usually human tissues samples). The argument presented here against such "upstream" property rights is based primarily on utilitarian grounds. This issue has new salience thanks to the Human Genome Project and "bio-prospecting" initiatives based on the aggregation of genetic information, such as the one being managed by deCODE Genetics in Iceland. The rationale for ownership is twofold: ownership will protect the basic human rights of privacy and autonomy and it will enable the data subjects to share in the tangible benefits of the genetic research. Proponents of this viewpoint often cite the principle of genetic exceptionalism, which asserts that genetic information needs a higher level of protection than other kinds of personal information such as financial data. We argue, however, that the recognition of such ownership rights would lead to inefficiency along with the disutility of genetic discoveries. Biomedical research will be hampered if property rights in genes and genetic material are too extensive. We contend that other mechanisms such as informed consent and strict confidentiality rules can accomplish the same result as a property right without the liabilities of an exclusive entitlement.     

高等师范院校开设人类遗传学课程的思考

21世纪是生命科学世纪,人类遗传学知识的普及对于提高个体生命质量,改善我国人口素质具有越来越重要的作用.由于培养目标的特殊性,在高等师范院校开设人类遗传学课程,具有必要性和可行性.通过对新疆师范大学体育学院四个年级此课程开设情况的调查,进一步论证高师院校开设人类遗传学课程的重要性以及可操作性.