October 2024 Newsletter

Rob was excited to represent PGED as an exhibitor at the Rockville Science Center’s first Community STEM Day on Saturday, Oct 13th, engaging with nearly 300 visitors about emerging issues in genetics.

Gill delivered an interactive early genetics career presentation for a classroom of healthcare genetics undergraduate students at UConn on Thursday, Oct 17th. Gill shared resources, opportunities, and insights learned since beginning her career in genetics education. She’s grateful for the opportunity to welcome college students to the PGED community!

PGED’s Community Spotlight series showcases some of the remarkable people we’ve connected with through our mission to expand education and dialogue about genetics, health, and society. You can find all of our current and future Spotlights on our website!

Gill joined Roshni Patel and Alvina Adimoelja to learn about their proudest projects – including creating and teaching an Introduction to Genetics, Ethics, and Society graduate-level course as graduate students!

Our team is pilot-testing our new tabletop card game, Share Your Stance on Personal Genetics! We’re thankful to those who have already reached out to us with an interest in facilitating an activity in their classroom or community space. We have room for more testers and are happy to mail out our game kits.

If you’re interested in pilot testing the game, please contact Gill at gmcneil@pged.med.harvard.edu.

Commentary: People Are Not Peas- Why Genetics Education Needs an Overhaul (SAPIENS). “From the basic genetics taught in K–12 schools to university courses, biology curricula desperately need an overhaul.”

Article: The New England Journal of Medicine reflects on its own history in “Ridding the Race of His Defective Blood” — Eugenics in the Journal, 1906–1948 (NEJM). “This article is part of an invited series by independent historians, focused on biases and injustice that the Journal has historically helped to perpetuate. We hope it will enable us to learn from our mistakes and prevent new ones.”

Article: Bill Nye, Science Guy, speaks out on ataxia (STAT News). “In a Q&A, Nye talks about his family’s history with the neurological disorder and the need to improve diagnosis.”

Article: Space travel is dangerous. Could genetic testing and gene editing make it safer? (MIT Technology Review). “Astronauts and commercial space travelers are subject to damaging radiation and microgravity, along with other potential injuries. We need better ways to protect them.”

Article: The Hopes and Fears Lab: Enabling Dialogue on Discovery Science (Journal of Science Communication). “In this Practice Insight, we consider challenges associated with dialogue-based public engagement with discovery science, related to a focus on application, the need for short-term policy impact, and the lack of conceptual attention to dialogue.”

Are You a Fan of Our Free Resources? PGED expands the dialogue on personal genetics by creating free lesson plans, videos, conversation guides, and more. 

Please consider making a gift to PGED to help us keep our resources free. 

We are grateful for any contribution you wish to make.

PGED is always looking for opportunities to engage with new audiences. Would you like to host a group to talk about the implications of personal genetics? What about a professional development workshop for teachers in your district?

We have staff in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington, DC – and we are willing to travel when possible. Contact us to find out about scheduling an event in your area!