Assignment 3: Social and Ethical Implications

Due in week 7 and worth 80 points

Continuing on your research from Weeks 3 and 5.

Provide an analysis of the social and ethical implications of your chosen biotechnology. Strive for an even-handed honest-broker approach in which you carefully analyze the possible benefits of the technology, as well as any possible drawbacks. For now, hold back on disclosing your point of view (you’ll get a chance to express your opinion in the final paper in Week 9).

For both benefits and drawbacks, state whether these are based on actual evidence, or based on speculation about possibilities. Consider the possible biases of both proponents and critics, if appropriate. Finally, address whether there any special ethical considerations that go beyond simply looking at the risks and benefits.

This assignment should be at least one page of double-spaced text (about 300 words) but not much more than two pages of double-spaced text (about 600 words). As always, think of the expected length as a proxy for how much to cover and how much detail to go into. In addition to your general remarks, you will need to go into depth on several issues to meet the expected length. Describe your points in a clear manner, and support them with explanations, examples, and discussions.

Hint: Merely providing a list of issues will not be sufficient for a good grade. You need to describe the issues fully, and support them.  Do not copy any bulleted lists from your sources.

You must have a reference section which contains an SWS reference to your chosen article and all other sources. Additionally, you must provide in-text citations (in SWS format) to your references in the body of the text. Integrate all sources into your paper using proper techniques of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing, along with your in-text citations.  Double-space your paper. Use standard margins and fonts. Also, follow any additional formatting instructions provided by your instructor.

Objectives evaluated by this assessment: Categorize a wide range of organisms, from single-celled to multi-celled organisms. Describe how organisms acquire and utilize both energy and material. Describe the cell cycle, cell reproduction, and control. Investigate DNA and gene expression as well as technologies based on our understanding of them. Discuss interactions between organisms in ecosystems.