BIOLOGY 211G SERRANO FALL 2004

EXTRA CREDIT #1: TWO ESSAYS (16 PTS TOTAL)

FOR THE FIRST EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT, YOU MAY WRITE UP TO TWO ESSAYS BASED ON READING ARTICLES ON RESERVE ONLINE AT THE NMSU LIBRARY

WHEN IS THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT DUE? O THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT MUST BE HANDED IN BY 5 PM ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2004.

WHERE DO I HAND IN THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT? o You may turn in the extra credit assignment at the end of class to Mr. Sultemeier o OR you may take the extra credit assignment to the Biology Office, Foster Hall, Room 234, and have them placed in my mailbox. I suggest you get a receipt if you turn them in to the office.

WHAT IF THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT IS LATE? o 10% of the total points will be deducted for each week the assignment is late. o Assignments will not be accepted if handed in more than 2 weeks after the due date.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING THE ESSAYS  Points: o Each essay will be worth a maximum of EIGHT points. I may reward exceptional effort with additional points.  Length: o Each essay should be at least 2 - 3 pages in length, and can certainly be longer. o Responses that are not of acceptable length will not receive full extra credit. o Acceptable paragraphs contain from 3-8 sentences each  Formatting: o The first page should have your NAME, SECTION, AND LAST FIVE DIGITS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER o The essays must be TYPED and DOUBLE-SPACED with ¾ inch margins. o Use a 12 point font. o All pages should be NUMBERED and your NAME should appear on EVERY PAGE. o STAPLE your pages together.  Copies: o You must KEEP A XEROX COPY of your extra credit assignment (or for that matter, any assignment that you hand in to a class). . Where do I find the ARTICLES that I must read for the essays? o To access the articles: . go to: http://liberes.nmsu.edu/ . click: "Look up electronic resources…." . Select Instructor Serrano, Elba // click:go . Select link to course page Biol 211 click: . enter password: 211 BIOLOGY 211G SERRANO FALL 2004

. click: accept. 3 Folders will appear and you may read and/or download the articles. o You may choose any TWO articles as topics for your essays. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ SEVERAL OR BETTER YET, ALL THE ARTICLES.

HOW DO I WRITE THE ESSAYS? WHAT SHOULD I DISCUSS? o Use your own words!! The purpose of the essays is for you to think and write about science. I am interested in reading your thoughts in your own words. For proper citation, review this link that explains how to avoid plagiarism: http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html o The following are suggestions for preparing essays about the articles. Feel free to add additional points not specifically mentioned below. 1. Begin by summarizing the main scientific points of the article in 1-2 paragraphs. 2. In another 1-2 paragraphs discuss what material (if any) that was covered in Bio 211G helped you to understand this article both scientifically and in terms of the importance of the scientific questions to social issues. 3. Questions for discussion: o Why did you select this article? o What was the most interesting and/or new information that you learned in this article? o What concerns, thoughts, observations, ethical questions were stimulated by the article? o If the author was arguing for a particular viewpoint, do you agree or disagree with the author? Why or why not? o Was your viewpoint about something altered by the article? WHAT ARE THE ARTICLES ABOUT? DESCRIPTIONS BELOW, CHOOSE TWO FOR YOUR ESSAYS 1. 'I Have Seen Cancers Disappear When Steven Rosenberg was young, the Nazis killed his aunts and uncles one by one. When he was older, cancer killed his patients one by one. That connection just might save our lives”. DISCOVER Vol. 22 No. 05 May 2001 If you are interested in cancer, and in how people overcome great personal tragedy and transform suffering into an opportunity to help others, this article may be of interest to you. (FOLDER 1) 2. “Genetically Altered Corn How a genetically modified corn called StarLink that wasn't intended for humans got into your food supply” DISCOVER Vol. 22 No. 03 | March 2001. This article may be interesting to those who are interested in crop plants and in the use of genetic engineering to improve agriculture. (FOLDER 1) 3. “Brothers with Heart Four brothers, close since childhood, are collaborating on the development of organs made from a patient's own tissue.“ DISCOVER Vol. 22 No. 07 | July 2001 Hmm, need a new body part or organ? One day, you may be able to get one on order. Read this article for interesting info on growing organs for human use and the exciting new field of tissue engineering. (FOLDER 1) 4. “ The Myth of Mind Control Will anyone ever decode the human brain? “ DISCOVER Vol. 25 No. 10 | October 2004 | Many consider the unraveling of the neural code underlying brain function to be the greatest challenge of the 21st century. Read this article if you are curious about how the mind works and are also interested in whether "chips" can be implanted in human brains to create human robots ("Resistance is futile……"). (FOLDER 1) 5. “ The Good Egg Determining when life begins is complicated by a process that unfolds months before a sperm meets an egg“ DISCOVER Vol. 25 No. 05 | May 2004 | Are you interested in what science says about when life begins and fascinated by the miracle of reproduction? Read this article to learn about cutting edge methods in reproductive technology and the complexities underlying the nature of life. (FOLDER 2) 6. “The Inuit Paradox How can people who gorge on fat and rarely see a vegetable be healthier than we are? “ DISCOVER Vol. 25 No. 10 | October 2004 | Many people are concerned with their weight and the levels of fat in their bodies because of the implications for diseases such as diabetes and stroke. Read this article to learn how fat and lifestyle combine in complex ways to affect health and how all fat is not the same. (FOLDER 2) 7. “ Testing Your Future Every state in the country requires that infants be tested for a list of obscure diseases. Before long, some states could move on to DNA testing of all newborns. Now is the time to decide a critical question: How much do we want to know and when do we want to know it? “ DISCOVER Vol. 24 No. 07 BIOLOGY 211G SERRANO FALL 2004

| July 2003 If you or your friends are thinking about genetic testing of your children, this article discusses pros and cons about genetic testing of newborns. (FOLDER 2) 8. “The Greatest Unanswered Questions of Medical Science Where the money and brainpower will go in the next decade“ DISCOVER Vol. 24 No. 12 | December 2003 | Are you looking to join a research area where your research can have an impact on human health? Check out this article to learn about interesting biomedical research areas. (FOLDER 3) 9. “ Making a New Mosquito Will messing with Mother Nature save millions from malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, and West Nile fever— or make matters much worse? “ DISCOVER Vol. 22 No. 05 | May 2001. Many people are concerned about the transmission of infectious diseases by insects such as mosquitoes. This especially is a serious problem in the tropics and in third world countries. This article discusses strategies to genetically engineer mosquitoes to eradicate disease transmission by these pests. (FOLDER 3) 10. “Sex and the Brain When neurobiologist Simon Levay published a small study on a minute part of the human brain, little did he realize it would catapult him from his scientific ivory tower into the heated fray of homosexual politics“. DISCOVER Vol. 15 No. 03 | March 1994 | Mind & Brain Scientific evidence is accumulating in support of the idea that homosexuality has a genetic basis. This article summarizes some research findings on a controversial topic and an under-researched area. (FOLDER 3)