Requirement #4: Research¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Present a report of at least 800 words or 10 minutes (with visual aids) on one of the following topics. Make sure to include the ethical issues involved in your topic. If possible, present our report to your unit or another group in addition to presenting to your counselor.
Mendelian inheritance, DNA, RNA, genetics, genomics, sequencing, and Punnett squares
Genetic diseases, personalized medicine, and genetic counseling
Genetically modified food, transgenic animals, and hybrid foods
Use of large genetics databases for forensic analysis/solving crimes, genealogical research, or medical studies (The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC), Exome Aggregation Consortioum (ExAC), 100,000 Genomes Project, mitochondria! DNA, etc.)
Pharmacogenetics and oncogenomics
Human Genome Project
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly-Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)
Biotechnology, biologics, and biosimilar drugs
Another related topic approved by your counselor in advance
Additional Challenge
Britannica kids has an excellent introduction to genetic engineering website you can find here where you can learn more about how it may be used to create helpful medical substances, such as vaccines.
Note
- CRISPR
Did you know that Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 was awarded to Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier (from the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Berlin, Germany) and to Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna (from University of California, Berkeley, USA) for the development of a method for genome editing, more specifically for developping CRISPR. Read more about it on the Nobel Prize website.
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!