Phil Biol 2510 Spring 2009 Study Guide for Midterm Exam 3 Bluebook Required For each exam you will be expected to be familiar with the assigned readings lectures and class discussions and be able to discuss intelligently the concepts issues arguments and criticisms involved on the topics covered The exam will consist of two parts The first part will be a series 10 of objective multiple choice questions The second part will consist of two short essays Below is a list of concepts and issues you are expected to understand A list of essay questions is also included Concepts and Issues GM Agriculture Agrobacterium gene gun T DNA growing a cell into a plant pronuclear injection knockout technology Common transgenic plants cotton corn soybeans herbicide resistant plants Ht insect resistant plants Bt Bt toxin Green Revolution and GM Food Safety Concerns Human Health toxins allergies long term Environmental selection pressure gene flow biodiversity and non target species Refuge areas Substantial equivalence vs Precautionary principle Socio Economic issues Impact human health and biodiversity dependency Benefits and risks on a global scale Golden rice Gene Therapy Somatic vs germline stem cell candidates for gene therapy SCID gene therapy vectors integrating viruses retroviruses non integrating viruses adenoviruses non viral DNA injection problems with vectors RNA interference RNAi RNAi vs gene therapy Risks immune response tumors Therapy vs Enhancement Erythropetin EPO case Armstrong and Millar Pro and con for enhancement Legitimate medical use Argument 1 Fairness Argument 2 Usefulness of therapy vs enhancement distinction IGF 1 case Infectious Disease Xenotransplantation Rationale and Risks Animal welfare immune response zoonosis Immune system antibodies antigens B T cells Zoonosis pandemics viruses Hemagglutinin Neuraminidase Spanish Flu 1918 H1N1 Avian Flu H5N1 Swine Flu H1N1 Dual use dilemmas Bioweapons bioterrorism Public Health Economic Impact Genetic Research Biosecurity mousepox reconstructing polio 1918 virus Project Bioshield B cells T cells Antibodies Monoclonal antibodies Humanized antibodies bacteria vs virus antibiotics antibiotic resistance immunization herd immunity smallpox polio recombinant vaccines Cloning Stem Cells Promise of SC research Therapy and Research Multipotent pluripotent cells Blastocyst inner cell mass chimera feeder cells candidate diseases for ES cell treatment immune response SCNT therapeutic vs reproductive cloning problems with US cell lines Bush 2001 vs Obama 2009 Federal Policy 1996 Dickey Wicker amendment Moral status of the embryo Human at conception argument and criticisms Potential Person argument and criticisms SCNT issues Source of Eggs Political Economic Issues 1 Essay Questions The following list includes eight possible essay questions for Midterm Exam 3 From this list we will pick four questions for the exam and then you will be expected to write on two of your choice Each answer should be given in essay form and be as complete and thorough as possible given the space and time for the exam approximately 2 3 of the allotted time for both essays and 1 3 for the objective questions Some recommendations include as much relevant detail as you can in an organized fashion We encourage the use of examples to illustrate your points In your essay be sure to respond to each part of the essay question Your goal should be to demonstrate to us that you have a competent grasp of the relevant concepts processes issues arguments and implications 1 Suppose the scientists working down the hall from you recently isolated a single gene from a desert sage plant that provides that plant with drought resistance Your bosses at Big Agra want you to introduce the gene for drought tolerance into corn Describe in detail the two ways discussed in class that you could make these transgenic plants starting with DNA and ending in a field 2 GM Food Safety One of the most prevalent concerns raised about GM foods is that it might be unsafe Pick what you think is the most important safety issue and describe the particular problem How might this problem be addressed Would this be a satisfying solution if implemented or would safety problems remain Explain your answer 3 Vaccination has been a major factor in decreasing incidence of many diseases Describe how vaccination works include the cell types in the body that are affected the molecules that they make and why our immune system can recognize any of billions of different viruses but not any of our own proteins 4 Dual use dilemmas As discussed in class scientists have published information about the materials and methods of creating highly virulent viruses such as the mousepox as well as how to reconstruct dangerous viruses e g polio from off the shelf genetic material Describe the dual use dilemma illustrated by these cases Assuming that the benefits of this type of viral research are worth pursuing how should this particular dilemma be resolved For example should such information not be published Should it be restricted If so by whom and on what criterion 5 Describe the two main types of gene therapy vectors Describe five of the six problems with gene therapy vectors that were listed in class Include in your description whether the problem is common to all vectors or only some and whether there have been any cases of actual medical complications in real trial due to these problems 6 Therapy vs Enhancement The use of gene therapy to treat existing diseases is fairly uncontroversial but many object to using the same technology to simply enhance traits of a non diseased individual Consider the recent discovery of IGF 1 What is IGF 1 and what is the possible enhancement application of IGF 1 Should it be used for this enhancement application explain why or why not Does the distinction between therapy and enhancement help answer this question of its proper use Explain 7 Describe specifically what ES cells and iPS cells are and how each is made In you answer compare how are they the same and how are they different Are iPS cells the solution to the hESC controversy 8 Stem Cell Ethics The central objection to hESC research is that it destroys human embryos Describe why this is a central issue in the public debate and recount the strongest argument against using embryos to extract stem cells In the end do you think this argument wins the day Why or why not Lastly consider whether iPS solves the moral status of the embryo issue 2