Download Biology 311 Human Genetics

Biology 311 Human Genetics
Mini-Review Paper Assignment
Fall 2006
There has been an information explosion in science over the last 20 years and
even scientists themselves don't have time to read all the original articles to stay on top
of their fields. Many scientific journals now feature short articles or "mini-reviews" on new
or controversial areas of research. Examples of these types of formats include the
"News and Comment" section of Science and the "News and Views" section of Nature.
Several new journals have been started in recent years, which consist entirely of short
review articles, such as Trends in Genetics.
Your assignment is to write a mini-review based on some aspect of human
genetics, molecular genetics, or a related area. Spend some time deciding on your topic
as you will be spending a good deal of time with this topic doing research, writing a brief
paper, and preparing a class presentation. Since I realize the library facilities can be
limiting, your paper should be based mainly on one well chosen research article at least
4 pages long. You should decide on a topic and show me the focus article by Monday
Nov.13, 2006.
Allow extra time in case you need to obtain articles by interlibrary loan. We have
a number of journals that contain current articles in human genetics, including Science,
Nature, and Proc. Natl. Acad. Sciences, USA, available in the library or on-line. For
many other journals we have on-line subscriptions only; for example Nature Genetics
can be accessed via the library web site under Find Articles, select Full Text Electronic
Journal Holdings (Serials Solutions). Journals published by Elsevier such as Trends in
Genetics, Current Opinion in Genetics and Development and Gene can be obtained
online via ScienceDirect on the Milne library web site. Other online journals, such as The
Journal of Biological Chemistry and New England Journal of Medicine, can be obtained
through Highwire Press or through the publisher’s web sites. You may also want to take
advantage of other libraries, such as SUNY Albany, which have more journals available;
don’t count on these though—most are going to on-line subscriptions and you need an
account from that school to access them (don’t even get me started on this issue!).
The mini-review you write should be 4-8 pages long (excluding references),
typed or computer printed and double-spaced. Give the review a short descriptive title.
You may write your paper from the perspective of a geneticist or from that of a layperson
concerned about the impact of genetics on society. Write your paper clearly and
concisely so that it could be understood by someone with a little background in science.
The assignment is due by the last day of class, but you should have a mostly completed
paper before the scheduled presentation dates. Note that you will be giving a class
presentation on some aspect of the topic you’ve chosen for your paper during the last 2
class periods.
Organizing the paper:
1. In the first few paragraphs, the area of human genetics covered by the article should
be introduced. You might want to consult other sources for some of the background
information. Published (peer-reviewed sources are always preferred over web sources)
If you use sources in addition to your main article, be sure to cite them.
2. In the main body of the paper, discuss and summarize some of the major points
covered in the article.
3. Close your paper by suggesting where this area of genetics is headed in the near
future.
4. Include a list of references at the end, with an asterisk indicating the main paper you
consulted. Use the following format:
journal article:
Kenyon, C. 1994. If birds can fly, why can't we? Homeotic genes and evolution. Cell 78:
175-180.
book:
Watson, J.D., Gilman, J., Witkowski, J. and Zoller, M. 1992. Recombinant DNA, second
edition, W. H. Freeman, New York, NY.
If at all possible, include a copy of the main article, an-online link to the article, or a PDF
file of the article.
5. Indicate the most important web sites consulted by providing the URLs.
Possible topic areas for review paper:
Human genome project (HapMap, etc.)
Genetics of the AIDS virus (HIV) or other human viruses
Oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes (Genetics of cancer)
DNA fingerprinting
Particular genetic diseases or chromosomal defects, such as
 Muscular dystrophy
 Down syndrome
 Huntington's disease
 Sickle cell anemia
 Cystic Fibrosis
 Tay-Sach's
 Phenylketonuria
Gene therapy
Human stem cells
Genetic effects of radiation
Gene regulation
Molecular evolution
DNA diagnostics
Twin studies
Genetics of complex traits
Comparative genomics