News You Can Use

Summer Professional Development for Teachers

2012-05-14T19:20:14Z

Join pgEd July 11-12 for free professional development to learn more about the emerging field of personal genetics and how to incorprate this topic into your classroom.

This interactive workshop will be an introduction to personal genetics and its impact on society. A wave of personal genetic information is coming – how can we prepare students to make informed choices for themselves and for society as a whole?

Through workshop-style sessions, we will look at examples of the hopes, realities and controversies in personal genetics. We will start with an overview: Why is genetics getting more personal? What has been happening, scientifically and technologically, since the completion of the Human Genome Project? Starting with scientific questions and concepts, we will make connections to real world opportunities and conundrums your students and their families will face in the coming years.

Topics to be Covered: Advances in personal genetics, personalized medicine, low cost genetic testing, fears and realities of genetic discrimination, the intersection of athletics and genetics, crime and DNA, reproductive genetics, genetic information and how to use it, and critical thinking as it applies to assessing genetic risk factors.

Content Area: Biology, Genetics, Health, Human Reproduction, and Bioethics; grades 9 – 12

July 11-12, 2012; 9:30 – 4:30

Boston, MA

Earn 12 PDPs for the two-day session.

Cost: Free

For more information or to register, email Lauren Tomaselli at ltomaselli@pged.med.harvard.edu or call (617) 432-1797.

GET 2012: Engaging your Community

2012-04-25T13:01:34Z

Hello GET Conference attendees! Chris Korey and I are presenting a workshop on Wednesday, April 25th at 1:15 in room 258 in the NRB. For those of you not able to join us, or want to download the materials being discussed, please click here for the PowerPoint slides, and here for the discussion questions/background reading. You might also find our annotated bibliography helpful. Thank you!

pgEd in print: "Getting a Head Start: The Importance of Personal Genetics Education in High Schools"

2012-04-11T20:17:17Z

Johnny and Marnie have recently published an article in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine about personal genetics and the urgent need for education. Thanks to all of the teachers who are a part of the movement to bring this very important topic into classrooms!

A link to the article is here.

Fantastic introduction to personal genetics!

2012-03-05T02:44:24Z

Here is a link to a fantastic 20-minute video of our colleague from Hudson Alpha, Neil Lamb, at TEDxHuntsville giving an introduction to the human genome, personal genome sequencing and what it all means. This is a great resource for teachers to watch as a backdrop to pgEd lessons!

A broken gene is not always a bad thing

2012-03-03T01:59:47Z

A mutation is often thought of as a bad thing, especially one that stops a protein from being made. Every once in a while, however, we hear a rare story about our DNA turning lemons into lemonade. ~20% of us are walking around with two 'defective' copies of the FUT2 gene (where 'defective' means that these copies make no FUT2 protein). Interestingly, these people are more resistant to norovirus infection, a common cause of the stomach flu.

Here is a link to a great blog post from Madeleine Price Ball for more details.

pgEd in print: "Preparing the public to make informed choices about personal genetics"

2012-03-02T15:01:10Z

Marnie Gelbart wrote a letter-to-the-editor that was published in the most recent issue of CBE-Life Sciences Education. This piece was written in response to an important study published by Dougherty and colleagues, analyzing high school genetics education standards in the United States. To complement their recommendations, Marnie's letter highlights the need for education about the ethical, legal, and social issues related to personal genetics, which is exactly our mission at pgEd.

A link to Marnie's letter is here.

New Drug Targets Genetic Cause of Cystic Fibrosis

2012-02-02T16:13:23Z

The first drug that treats an underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, a variant in the G551D gene, has been approved by the FDA. The drug targets a defect in the protein that causes the disease. This mutation is the cause of cystic fibrosis in only 4% of people with the disease, which makes this story useful for teachers using the "Personalized Medicine" lesson, as it illustrates that drugs can be tailored to certain patients based on their genetic information.

A link to the New York Times article is here.

A link to the National Public Radio story is here.

pgEd archives - "Genetic Testing: Right for You?"

2012-01-30T16:16:10Z

Dana Waring wrote this piece for "imagine magazine," a publication intended for junior high and high school age students. Published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, this article highlights some of the benefits and risks of personal genetics in an accessible and clear manner. Teachers might find this useful as an introductory reading.

Link here, and PDF here.

Personal genetic testing and adoptees in the New York Times

2012-01-30T15:09:34Z

Teachers looking for a "real world" example of why a person would want to get their genome analyzed might consider sharing the recent New York Times article with their class. "With DNA Testing, Suddenly They are Family," written by Rachel Swarns, examines the trend of adoptees seeking out not just information about their health and ancestry, but biological family connections - even distant ones - using direct-to-consumer products.

Link here.

pgEd archives - Genomics Law Report

2012-01-27T00:36:59Z

In our transition to our new website, not everything came with us. We thought we would occasionally highlight articles we have written, or newpaper articles where we are cited or quoted, as some of these pieces might serve as useful background both to our mission and in the classroom as well.

The Genomics Law Report asked us to contribute a short piece to their series " What In ELSI is New?". The whole series is available for free here, and can also be downloaded in a number of different formats. Please check out our piece, "The next generation is...in high school," where we make an argument for focusing education efforts on young people via the public school system.

More from Genomics Law Report: http://www.genomicslawreport.com/