Biology 311 Human Genetics

Biology 311 Human GeneticsFall 2006

Mini-Review Paper Assignment

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 siteunder 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