Step 2: Innovations in Biology and Technology – Writing Assignment

Addresses course outcomes 1-4:

• recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

Write a paper about your chosen topic – selected in Step 1.

• Your paper should consist of a title page, introduction, several paragraphs addressing the questions for your chosen topic, conclusion, and references.
• The outline you wrote in Step 1 should be your starting point, but you can make edits to the topics and details you include, and the organization of the content. Take advantage of any feedback received.

• Your paper should be 750-1500 words, excluding references and the title page.
• Use a minimum of three (3) reliable information sources. These can be different from the resources that you found in step 1 of this assignment.
• The majority of your paper should be written in your own words, in your own writing style and structure, and fully paraphrasing information from the selected information sources (just changing a few words in a sentence is not enough). Your paper should consist of less than 10% direct quotes. Quotation marks must be used at the start and end of a direct quote, followed by an in-text citation. When paraphrasing, you should also use text citations to acknowledge the source.
• A list of references in APA format should be included at the end.

Resources that may be helpful as you write your paper:

• UMGC Citing and Writing page for citation, writing, and academic integrity help.
• Video from UMGC’s Office of Academic Integrity and Accountability: Paraphrasing Content in Your Own Words
• Free writing tutoring: Go to the Academic Support tab within our LEO classroom, and click Tutoring to get started!

Submit your paper to the Assignment folder by the due date listed in the course schedule.

• The originality of your assignment will be checked with Turnitin. Please review the originality report, and if needed, submit a revised assignment before the submission deadline.
• If you need help accessing and understanding the Turnitin Report and want to learn more about how Turnitin is used at UMGC, here is a good resource: UMGC Library’s Turnitin FAQ

Please review the grading rubric, and ask your professor if you have questions about this assignment.

Topic selection – use the topic you selected for step 1 of this assignment, included here as a reminder:

a) Vaccines. Your friend is worried about the many vaccines that his newborn son is scheduled to receive and asks you for advice since you are taking a biology course.

• Briefly explain how the human immune system works.

• Explain how vaccines work.
• Contrast the traditional methods used to create vaccines with more recently used biotechnology techniques, including the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Explain how the mRNA vaccines work based on your knowledge of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology.
• How have vaccinations impacted the frequency of these diseases over the past 100 years? Include a few specific statistics.
• What are some of the diseases that infants and children in the US are routinely vaccinated against?
• Why are some people worried about giving their children vaccines?

b) Personal Genomics. Services like 23andMe and Ancestry have made it possible – even popular – for the average person to obtain in-depth information about their genome, including details like food allergies, drug sensitivities, and disease risks. There are even add-on sites that will take this information and generate elaborate reports, such as Promethease. Research and address the following questions in your paper.

• Describe how an individual’s DNA is collected and analyzed, and what the results provided to the consumer include. Include a brief description of the structure and function of DNA, including how genes control our traits, using what you have learned about the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology). Use information from the course readings, at least one service provider (e.g., 23&Me, Ancestry), and additional information resources.
• What are some of the advantages of this easy, rapid, and relatively affordable access to genomic data?

c) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a recent breakthrough discovery in bioengineering that enables scientists to edit DNA. Because you have studied biology in this course, you have volunteered at your niece’s High School Science Club to monitor a student debate about CRISPR. The students will be watching this Genome Editing with CRISPR-Cas9 video before the debate. You need to watch the video to be prepared in case there are any questions.

Research and address each of the following questions in your paper:

• What is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)? How does it work and what can it be used for?

• What role does Cas9 play in the CRISPR process? How does the CRISPR-Cas9 system snip and replace DNA sequences?
• As you explain CRISPR, incorporate some information from the Genome Editing video above, with an in-text citation.
• What are the potential benefits and concerns associated with gene editing? Include specific examples.
• Do you believe that the inherent risks of modifying DNA are worth the rewards? Include specific examples.
• Do you believe that it is ethical to genetically engineer animals and humans? Explain.

d) Bioprinting. Your father has been on a waitlist for a new kidney for several years, but no match has been found. You hear about bioprinting on the news and decide to do some research so you can tell him about it. Research and address the following questions in your paper:

• What is bioprinting and how does the process work? Describe how bioprinting can form complex biomaterials, relating it to what you have learned about cells, tissues, and organs from the course readings.
• What are stem cells and how can they be used for bioprinting?
• What is bioink and how is it used for bioprinting?
• Include at least two specific examples of current research in this field. Include references to peer-reviewed scholarly papers.

e) Human-caused global climate change is the biggest environmental challenge we are faced with today. Your aunt is a climate skeptic and you have decided to use your understanding of science to explain to her why the earth’s climate is changing, describe the major biological effects of climate change, and discuss how technology can be a solution to this problem.

• Briefly describe the greenhouse effect and how carbon dioxide is a natural part of the carbon cycle.

• How is the use of fossil fuels disrupting the carbon cycle and enhancing the greenhouse effect? You may want to look ahead to the Week 7 readings for this information.
• What are the major ecological effects associated with climate change? Describe at least two specific examples.
• What are the human health concerns associated with climate change? Describe at least two specific examples.
• And finally, what can we do to reduce our impact on the climate through technological innovation? Include a description of at least two technological solutions.