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=**The Century of the Gene – Spring 2011**=

STSH 2410 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Meeting Times: M, R 10-12 Place: Darrin 236

Prof. Michael Fortun Sage 5112 X6598 Office Hours: M, R 12-2; or by appointment. fortum@rpi.edu

This syllabus is subject to change; the most recent version (with hyperlinks) can always be found at centuryofthegene2010.wikispaces.com

This course details the scientific and social history of genetics, from Darwin and Mendel to the Human Genome Project. Special focus areas include: plant and animal breeding in the early twentieth century; eugenics movements in the U.S. and elsewhere; bacterial and fruit fly genetics; the development of molecular biology; the invention of recombinant-DNA technologies; the emergence of the biotechnology industry; the sociobiology controversies; genetics and evolutionary theory; and the Human Genome Project and contemporary genomics.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course you will:

• understand the key scientific developments, scientists, institutions, technologies, and social and political events that are a part of the history of genetics in the 20th century (restricted, for the most part, to the U.S. and Europe); • understand a number of different disciplinary approaches to genetics – historical, sociological, anthropological, and literary – their methodologies, and the kinds of knowledge they produce; • understand the complex, partial, ambiguous, yet real and analyzable relationships between scientific truths, available technologies, productive/misleading metaphors, and the local circumstances of history, culture, and politics.

**Course Requirements and Grading**
You will be graded on a straight grading scale, i.e.: A 90-100, B 80-89, C 70-79, D 60-69

Your final grade will be determined as a combination of class attendance and participation, three brief in-class exams and three short writing assignments. There is no final exam, and there is no extra credit option – there is no substitute for being present in mind and body and engaging actively with the course materials.

Each class session will consist of some combination of lecture, discussion of the assigned readings, and occasionally a video on that week’s topic.

__Class attendance and participation (20%):__

You should attend every class, coming to each meeting with the readings you have completed along with your notes, and you should contribute regularly to class discussions. I reserve the right to deduct points if you establish a pattern of lateness, silence or non-participation, or unexcused absence.

You cannot earn an A with more than 2 unexcused absences. To get an excused absence, you must present an official university excuse or do work comparable to attendance by writing an additional reading response paper (see next section) that critically examines all readings discussed while you were absent. No more than two excused absences will be permitted. Use of laptops, iPads, cell phones, etc. is not permitted during class; IF YOU HAVE AN OPEN LAPTOP DURING CLASS YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED ABSENT. For notetaking during class, use a paper notebook.

Each week, EVERYONE MUST SUBMIT ONE QUESTION BY MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY, by email to me. I will try to address some of the questions (anonymously) in class, but won’t have the time or knowledge to answer all of them; the main point in any case is to RAISE the question. As we know from science, few things are more important than being able to look at a situation and ask a good question, even if it would take an entire career to answer it. As you do the readings, you should not have a problem coming up with something that puzzles you, confuses you, or simply makes you wonder about something. It might be about a person, an argument made by an author, other things that were happening at a particular historical moment, or how a past event resonates with a current event or trend, or whatever else the course material made you curious about. It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t have to contain exact quotes (although these are always good.) BUT YOUR EMAIL MUST DO 3 THINGS: 1. Refer directly to one of the readings, videos, or lectures. Your questioning should be grounded in the material (not, e.g., “I was watching South Park last night, and it was the one where Kenny was on life support, and it made me think of the Nazis and…”). 2. Actually frame a question, and one that does not simply ask for my opinion (“Would you have pulled the plug on Kenny?”) 3. It must be sent by MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY.

These questions will not be graded, and you are NOT REQUIRED to submit one each week, but you will receive either a 0 or 1 that will count toward your class participation grade. If you do not submit a question for a particular week, if it arrives late, or if I judge it to be a non-serious effort, you receive a zero for that week; otherwise you receive a 1, toward a possible total of 14 for the semester. Sustaining a pattern of thoughtful questions can do a lot, from making up for shyness in discussion to putting you over a borderline grade.

__Three short writing assignments (40%):__ These 3-5 page essays (typed, double-spaced) are due in class as indicated in the syllabus. Email your papers to me, AND bring a hard copy to class on the date it is due. Unless you have an excused absence, late papers will not be accepted and you will receive a 0. The assignment will be distributed a week before the date it is due, or earlier when appropriate or possible. If you have to miss class, you are responsible for getting the assignment from a friend or from the folder which will be posted on my office door. The assignment may pertain to the course readings, videos, or related web sites; more specific guidelines and requirements will be provided for each paper. You will be graded on both content as well as mechanics (grammar, syntax, organization, etc.).

__Three in-class exams (40%):__ These brief (about 30 minutes) exams will be distributed throughout the semester as indicated in the syllabus. They are a mix of multiple choice questions, short answers, identifications, and such. If you engage seriously with the course materials, take notes, and engage in class discussions, you should do well on the exams. If you have to miss an exam through an excused absence, you may be given a make-up writing assignment rather than a make-up exam.

**Academic Dishonesty Policy**
You should read the Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities so that you understand all the acts that constitute a violation of the Institute’s academic dishonesty policy. Plagiarism is the most frequent violation, sometimes because students are unfamiliar with what constitutes plagiarism. You should read the brief but thorough description found at Indiana University's plagiarism page ([|http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml]).

I have a policy of zero tolerance for plagiarism or any other act of academic dishonesty. If you commit any such act, you will – at minimum – receive an F for that assignment and be subject to RPI’s judicial process. Failure of the entire course is also within my rights as instructor.

(See this recent New York Times article -- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html -- for a view of the current culture of plagiarism.)

**TEXTS**
The following texts should be purchased in the RPI bookstore: Evelyn Fox Keller, //The Century of the Gene// Simon Mawer, //Mendel’s Dwarf// Diane Paul, //Controlling Human Heredity: 1865 to the present// Brenda Maddox, //Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA//


 * WEEK 1**

__Jan 24 Introduction__ VIDEO on Darwin and evolutionary theory (Part 1)

__Jan 27 Humans and Animals, God and Nature__ VIDEO on Darwin and evolutionary theory (Part 2)


 * WEEK 2**

__Jan 31__ __When Cousins Kiss: Darwin, Galton, and “Regression to the Mean”__

READ: http://galton.org/essays/1900-1911/galton-1901-improvement.pdf
 * Paul, Controlling Human Heredity, Chap. 2, “Evolutionary Anxieties,” pp. 22-39.
 * Simon Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 1-39
 * Francis Galton, The Possible Improvement of the Human Breed Under the Existing Conditions of Law and Sentiment, Nature 64 (1901), 659-665.

__Feb 3__ __Mendel and //Pisum//: Hybridizing and the Business of Breeding__

READ:
 * Jan Sapp, "The Nine Lives of Gregor Mendel," (http://www.mendelweb.org/MWsapp.html) at MendelWeb
 * Diane Paul and Barbara Kimmelman, "Mendel in America: Theory and Practice, 1900-1919", (http://www.mendelweb.org/MWpaul.html) at MendelWeb


 * WEEK 3**

__Feb 7__ __Morgan and__ Drosophila__: Splitting Embryology and Genetics__

READ:
 * Keller, The Century of the Gene, pp. 1-20.
 * Eric R. Kandel, Thomas Hunt Morgan at Columbia University: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Legacies/Morgan/
 * T.H. Morgan, "What Are 'Factors' in Mendelian Explanations?", American Breeders Association Reports 5: 365-368 http://www.esp.org/foundations/genetics/classical/thm-09.pdf

Feb 10 __Genetics and Eugenics in the U.S__.

READ:
 * Paul, Controlling Human Heredity, Chaps. 1, 3, and 4, pp. 1-21, 40-71


 * WEEK 4**

__Feb 14__ __Genetics and Eugenics in the U.S. (cont.)__ VIDEO: Homo Sapiens 1900 READ:
 * Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 40-98

__Feb 17__ __Genetics and Eugenics in the U.S. (cont.)__


 * WEEK 5**

__Feb 21 No Class -- President's Day__

__Feb 24__ __Abyss: Racial Hygiene in Germany__ READ:
 * PAPER #1 DUE IN CLASS**
 * Paul, Controlling Human Heredity, Chaps. 5-6, pp. 72-114


 * WEEK 6**

__Feb 28__ __Barbara McClintock and //Zea mays//__

READ:
 * Wikipedia entry on Barbara McClintock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock
 * Biographical narrative at The Barbara McClintock Papers: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/LL/Views/Exhibit/narrative/biographical.html (follow the links!)

__Mar 3__ __How Genetics Became Molecular__ EXAM #1 READ:
 * The One Gene/One Enzyme Hypothesis http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/BC/One_Gene_One_Enzyme.html
 * Keller, The Century of the Gene, pp. 21-87
 * Start reading Maddox, //Rosalind Franklin//


 * WEEK 7**

__Mar 7__ __How Genetics Became Molecular (cont.)__

__Mar 10__ __How Genetics Became Molecular (cont.)__

READ: Paul, Chapter 7, pp. 115-135.

[March 18 is last day to drop a course.]


 * SPRING BREAK**


 * WEEK 8**

__Mar 21__ __The "Race" to The Double Helix__

READ:
 * Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 99-135
 * Continue reading Maddox, //Rosalind Franklin//

TOPICS FOR PAPER 2

__Mar 24__ __Honest Jim?__

READ:
 * From The Double Helix: Max Perutz, M.H.F. Wilkins, and James D. Watson, “Three Letters to the Editor of Science” [[file:The_Double_Helix_pg207-212.pdf]]; and Andre Lwoff, “Truth, Truth, What is Truth (About How the Structure of DNA Was Discovered)?” [[file:The_Double_Helix_pg224-234.pdf]]


 * Finish Maddox, //Rosalind Franklin//


 * WEEK 9**

__Mar 28__ __A Different Kind of Race__

READ:
 * Interview with Steven J. Gould http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-01-09.htm
 * Interview with Evelynn Hammonds http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-01-05.htm
 * Jonathan Marks, [|"Folk Heredity,"] pp. 95-112 in //Race and Intelligence: Separating Science from Myth//, ed. Jefferson M. Fish (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Ehrlbaum Associates).
 * Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 136-168

__Mar 31__ __Fly Boys__ READ:
 * PAPER #2 DUE IN CLASS**
 * Brian Hayes, The Invention of the Genetic Code, American Scientist (Jan.-Feb. 1998) http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/the-invention-of-the-genetic-code
 * NIH web exhibit on Marshall Nirenberg, []


 * WEEK 10**

__Apr 4 Sociobiology__

READ:
 * Wikipedia entry on Sociobiology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociobiology
 * Wikipedia entry for Stephen J. Gould http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould
 * Wikipedia entry for Richard Lewontin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lewontin

__Apr 7 Sociobiology (cont.)__

READ:
 * C. George Boeree, Sociobiology [|http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/sociobiology.html]
 * E.O. Wilson, Science and ideology, Academic Questions 8 (1995) http://lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/wilson01.html
 * Val Dusek, SOCIOBIOLOGY SANITIZED: THE EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND GENIC SELECTIONISM DEBATES http://www.human-nature.com/science-as-culture/dusek.html


 * WEEK 11**

__Apr 11 Engineering Genetic Engineering__ READ:
 * Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 169-208
 * Sheldon Krimsky, "From Asilomar to Industrial Biotechnlogy: Risks, Reductionism, and Regulation," Science as Culture 14:4 (December 2005), 309-323 [[file:From Asilomar.pdf]]
 * Marcia Barinaga, "Asilomar revisited," Science 287:1584-1585. http://www.biotech-info.net/asilomar_revisited.html
 * Paul Berg, "Asilomar and Recombinant DNA" http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1980/berg-article.html

__Apr 14 Jumpstarting the Biotech Industry__ READ:
 * EXAM #2**
 * Sally Smith Hughes, “Making Dollars Out of DNA,” Isis 92 (2001): 541-575 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-1753%28200109%2992%3A3%3C541%3AMDOODT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R


 * WEEK 12**

__Apr 18 The Human Genome Project__

READ:
 * Leslie Roberts, "Controversial from the Start," Science 291 (5507): 1182a http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5507/1182a
 * Robert M. Cook-Deegan, Origins of the Human Genome Project, Risk 5 (1994). http://law.unh.edu/risk/vol5/spring/cookdeeg.htm

__Apr 21 The Human Genome Project (cont.)__

READ: TBA


 * WEEK 13**

__Apr 25 Contemporary Genetics: More or Less “Simple” Conditions__

READ:
 * Rayna Rapp, “Refusing Prenatal Diagnosis: The Meanings of Bioscience in a Multicultural World,” Science, Technology and Human Values 23:1 (Winter 1998): 45-70 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0162-2439%28199824%2923%3A1%3C45%3ARPDTMO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M
 * Cystic Fibrosis: What is it? http://www.ygyh.org/cf/whatisit.htm
 * Sickle Cell Anemia: What is it? http://www.ygyh.org/sickle/whatisit.htm
 * Huntington Disease : What is it? http://www.ygyh.org/hd/whatisit.htm

__Apr 28 Contemporary Genetics: Less or More “Complex” Conditions__ READ:
 * BEHAVIORAL GENETICS: An introduction to how genes and environments interact through development to shape differences in mood, personality, and intelligence http://www.aaas.org/spp/bgenes/publications.shtml (Introduction, and Chapters 1-3 and 5-7)
 * Marks, J. (2005) [|Anthropology and //The Bell Curve//.] In: W//hy America's Top Pundits are Wrong: Anthropologists Talk Back//, edited by C. Besteman and Hugh Gusterson (University of California Press, pp. 206-227) . http://personal.uncc.edu/jmarks/pubs/bellcurve.pdf


 * WEEK 14**

__May 2 Mendel’s Dwarf__ READ:
 * EXAM #3**
 * Mawer, Mendel’s Dwarf, pp. 240-end
 * Karen-Sue Taussig et al., "Flexible Eugenics" [[file:Flexible Eugenics.pdf]][[file:Flexible Eugenics 2.pdf]][[file:Flexible Eugenics3.pdf]][[file:Flexible Eugenics4.pdf]]

__May 5 Genetic Revisions__ READ: >
 * PAPER #3 DUE IN CLASS**
 * Topics for Paper 3**
 * Keller, The Century of the Gene, pp. 87-148
 * Elly Hart, 'Why 23andme genetic testing is a waste of time and money," Gizmodo, April 7, 2011; http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/04/why-23andme-genetic-testing-is-a-waste-of-time-and-money/
 * Mike Fortun, "Genes in Our kNot," Handbook of Genomics and Society