Demo Lesson
You will be assigned to one of the following three groups to develop a presentation for the National Institutes of Health’s National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity regarding D.I.Y. biology and current research into the avian flu virus. Since there are 24 of us in this course, we will have 2 teams in each group. This means that you will be assigned to either the A or B team for each group. Click here for a list of groups.
D.I.Y. Biologists:
Students in this group will describe the “do-it-yourself” biology movement. You should address concerns about the safety of D.I.Y. biology and discuss whether this type of activity should be regulated. You should also be prepared to talk about whether increased accessibility to the tools of biotechnology presents any biosecurity risks. Note: You may find some valuable insights in the readers’ comments section of this article.
Scientists Who Support the Publication of Research That May Make It Easier for the Avian Flu Virus to Spread Among Mammals:
Students in this group should convince the board of the importance of a better understanding of how the avian flu virus works, and present the evidence for it. You should be able to explain why some scientists believe that in the interests of public safety, this research needs to proceed and be made publicly available.
Researchers Opposed to This Research and Its Publication:
Students in this group should convince the board that research that alters the avian flu virus in a way making it contagious to mammals should be limited. You should first explain how avian flu in its unaltered form can be transmitted to mammals from birds. You should also explain why scientists involved in the research voluntarily stopped their work last winter.
Use VoiceThread to develop your presentation collaboratively with your group. Click on this page to learn how to create and share a VoiceThread presentation with your group.