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Biosafety Science and Policy
Instructors:
Dr. Anne Kapuscinski and Dr. Emily Pullins
NRES 5482 (3 cr.), Registration #64597
Thursdays, 5:10-6:45 p.m.
19
Green Hall, St. Paul Campus
Classes
This
course will be taught through a series of lectures, guest speakers, discussions,
and student activities. Class
will meet two days per week (one for presentations and lectures and one
for discussion section), 1.5 hr. each session.
Introduction
Scientists
and regulators are now developing methods to ensure the equitable and
safe use of biological technologies, such as genetic engineering and cloning,
and their products, such as growth-enhanced, transgenic fish. One of the
most important new analytical approaches to assessment and management
of these new technologies is the burgeoning field of biosafety science.
Using a combination of methods such as risk assessment, risk management,
safety engineering and formal deliberative techniques, biosafety science
will provide sound science approaches in the use of new biological technologies.
Along
with biosafety science, we will explore the innovations in safety policy
that may be necessary for appropriate management and use of biotechnologies.
How, we ask, can biotechnological science and its products develop can
be openly examined and managed for safety by independent scientists, governments,
industry, and concerned citizens? We will explore existing policy programs,
national and international, that govern the use of biological technologies
currently, and then explore how a focus on safety may result in changes
to existing policies.
Objectives
By
the end of the course the student will be able to:
- develop and utilize biosafety
science approaches for use in the analytical assessment of new biological
technologies;
- access and understand
diverse perspectives on biosafety policy,
- critically analyze environment
and human health safety issues relating to genetic engineering and other
biotechnologies using a multi-disciplinary perspective,
- engage their communities
in in-depth discussions about biosafety, and
- develop and submit an
original piece to a peer-reviewed academic journal.
Student
Activities
The
student will participate in the following activities during the course:
- Participate in class discussions
- Read and discuss scientific
papers and other assigned reading
- Write and present a 3-5
page individual paper
- Write and present a group
paper suitable for publication
Individual
Paper and Presentation
The
individual paper is due during the sixth week of class; it is a 3-5 page
essay, and can be written from the disciplinary perspective of the student. This paper can be a literature review on a
topic related to genetic engineering or an analysis of some aspect of
a genetically modified organism. The
intention of this assignment is to introduce students to the topic of
genetic engineering, and to make clear the links between their discipline
and genetic engineering. All students
will present their papers to the class during lecture, and this will introduce
students to the breadth of the interdisciplinary nature of genetic engineering.
Group
Paper and Presentation
The
group paper is a critique of the current governance of biotechnology and
recommendations for improvement. The
paper should highlight interdisciplinary links and integrate material
from the course, readings, and an independent literature search. The topics for the paper should be decided
upon by the fourth week of class, and rough drafts are due on the twelfth
week of class. The format of the
paper should conform to the writer’s guidelines for a peer-reviewed academic
journal of the group’s choosing. Groups
must turn in a copy of the journal’s writers’ guidelines when they turn
in the paper. The rough draft
will undergo peer editing by students, then will receive comments by the
professors, and the final paper will be due on the last week of class. The paper will be presented in the format of an oral presentation
during finals week.
Class
assignments
A
variety of assignments will be required throughout the course. These include editing your peers’ paper rough
drafts, completing a worksheet from the Biosafety Manual, short essays
on a variety of topics, preliminary assignments in support of the paper,
and other assignments that will be announced in class.
Consult the course schedule and instructors for details on how
to turn in these assignments; some will be posted to the website while
others will be due at the beginning of class. More details about how course
assignments will be graded are provided in the handouts to be distributed
during class.
A
note about group projects
Group
projects are an excellent way to learn from your classmates. Individual grades must be granted for these
projects, however. To help resolve
this problem, several assignments related to the group project will receive
individual grades. Also, at the
end of the project, we will ask every student will be asked to turn in
a written description of your contribution to the project and that of
the other members of the group. The instructors will take this information
into consideration in assigning an appropriate grade to each member of
the group.
Grading
This
course is offered on an A-F or Pass-Fail basis. Grading will be based on the following components:
- Class attendance and participation
10%
- Class assignments 6 x
5% 30%
- Individual paper assignment
5%
- Final individual paper
10%
- Individual paper presentation
5%
- Group paper assignments
2 x 5% 10%
- Final group paper 20%
- Group paper presentation
10%
If
you are having difficulty in this course, we encourage you to consult
the Instructors or TA during office hours, or set up an appointment. Please come to us sooner rather than later.
Materials
Reading
materials required for this class include:
- Genetically Engineered
Organisms: Assessing Environmental and Human Health Effects, by D.K. Letourneau and
B.E. Burrows, Eds., CRC Press, 2001.
- Understanding Risk, by Stern and Fineberg,
Eds., National Academy Press, 1997.
- Two course packets - one main reader and one discussion reader
Subject
Material
Note
that this course deals with some issues that are controversial. We consider discussion of such differences
of opinion to be healthy. However,
we expect this discussion to be respectful and also expect all students
to cooperate fully on group projects with their peers regardless of differences.
Academic
Misconduct
Academic
misconduct is defined in the University of Minnesota policy as "the
fabrication or falsification of data, research procedures, or data analysis;
destruction of data for fraudulent purposes; plagiarism; abuse of confidentiality;
or other fraudulent actions in proposing, conducting, reporting, or reviewing
research or other scholarly activity." Such misconduct will not be tolerated in this
course. Students may refer to
university policy or consult the Instructors for further clarification
on this subject.
Accessibility
It
is University policy to provide, on a flexible and individualized basis,
reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities that may affect
their ability to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements.
Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact their instructors
or TAs early in the semester to discuss their individual needs for accommodations.
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