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Course Information

Units: 5

Lectures: Tuesdays & Thursdays
3:30-6:00 PM

Location: Zoom Meeting
Link available via BruinLearn

Discussions: Wednesdays (Zoom Meeting)
12-2:00 PM
2-4:00 PM
4-6:00 PM

Office Hours: Mondays (Zoom Meeting)
with Dr. Bob Goldberg
4-5:30 PM
or by appointment

Syllabus

Class Handouts and Powerpoint Presentations

Week 1

01/10/23 - Lecture One Handout (pdf): The Age of DNA: What is Genetic Engineering? (Part One)
01/12/23 - Film:  Race For the Double Helix

Week 2

01/17/23 - Lecture Two Handout (pdf): The Age of DNA: What is Genetic Engineering? (Part Two)
01/19/23 - Films:  The Gene Engineers; Designing Life; Genetic Information Age

Week 3

01/24/23 - Lecture Three Handout (pdf): What Are Genes & How Do They Work: (Part One)
01/26/23 - Film:  Extraordinary Measures

Week 4

01/31/23 - Lecture Four Handout (pdf): What Are Genes & How Do They Work: (Part Two)
02/02/23 - Lecture Five Handout (pdf): How Are Genes Cloned & Engineered: The Insulin & Hemophilia Story

Week 5

02/07/23 - Lecture Six Handout (pdf): Twenty-First Century Genetic Engineering & Advanced Applications (Part One)
02/09/23 - Film:  Food Evolution
Guest Speaker:  Dr. Channapatna Prakash

Week 6

02/14/23 - All-Class Midterm Oral Exam
02/16/23 - Lecture Seven Handout (pdf): Twenty-First Century Genetic Engineering Applications (Part Two)

Week 7

02/21/23 - Lecture Eight Handout (pdf): Age of Genomics: Human Genomes, Human Origins, and Race
02/23/23 - Guest Speaker:  Harry Klann, Supervising Criminologist, DNA Unit, LAPD, Retired

Week 8

02/28/23 - Lecture Nine Handout (pdf): Human Genetic Engineering - Dr. John Harada
03/02/23 - Guest Speaker: In Vitro Ferilization and Embryo Genetic Testing by Dr. Michele Evans

Week 9

03/07/23 - Lecture Ten Handout (pdf): Genetic Engingeering & The Law: Regulating Science & GMOs
03/09/23 - Guest Speaker: The Oviva Story by Dr. Daisy Robinton

Week 10

03/14/23- Lecture Eleven Handout (pdf): Genetic Engineering & The Law: Patents & Who Owns Your Genes
03/16/23 - All-Class Final Oral Exam

Guest Speakers

Dr. Channapatna Prakash, PhD

Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics, Tuskegee University
Title: Engineering Crops for the Developing World

Harry Klann

Supervising Criminologist, DNA Unit, LAPD (Retired)
Title: DNA Forensics & The Law

Dr. Michele Evans, MD, FACOG

Reproductive Specialist, Pacific Fertility Center Los Angeles
Title: In Vitro Fertilization & Genetic Testing

Dr. Daisy Robinton, PhD

Oviva Therapeutics
Title: The Future of Genetic Engineering & Health

Articles for Discussion

Discussion One: What Do You Think About Genetic Engineering and GMOs?

Discussion Two: Origins of Genetic Engineering - Hybrid DNA Molecules and Controversy

1. Stanley N. Cohen, The Manipulation of Genes, Scientific American, June 1992, 233(1), 24-33.
2. Clifford Grobstein, The Recombinant DNA Debate, Scientific American, July 1977, 237(1), 22-33.

Discussion Three: Origins of Biotechnology - From Genes to Drugs

1. Walter Gilbert and Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Useful Proteins From Recombinant Bacteria, Scientific American, April 1980, 242(4), 74-94.
2. Jon Gertner, Unlocking the Covid Code, The New York Times Managzine, March 25 2020.

Discussion Four: From Genes to Vaccines

1. James P. Close, Ancient Plagues Shaped the World, Scientific American, November 2020, 323(5), 70-75.
2. Andrew Curry, Ancient DNA Reveals That Europe is a Melting Pot, National Geographic, August 2019.
3. Jessica Roy, Will this Pandemic Ever End?, Los Angeles Times, December 23 2021.
4. Howard Markel, The Last Time a Vaccine Saved America, The New Yorker, April 12 2021.
5. Megan Scudellari, How the Coronavirus Infects Cells-and What Makes it So Dangerous, Nature, July 28 2021.
6. Emma Cott, Elliot deBruyn, and Jnathan Corum, How Pfizer Makes its COVID Vaccine, The New York Times, April 28 2021.

Discussion Five: Genetic Engineering Crops & Farm Animals

1. Charles S. Gasser, & Robert T. Fraley, Transgenic Crops, Scientific American, June 1992, 266(6), 62-69.
2. Felicia Wu, Justus Wesseler, David Zilberman, Robert M. Russell, Chen Chen, & Adrian Dubock, Opinion-Allow Golden Rice to Save Lives, PNAS, December 21 2021, 118(51).
3. William H. Velander, Henryk Lubon, & William N. Drohan, Transgenic Livestock as Drug Factories, Scientific American, January 1997, 276(1), 70-74.
4. Casey Smith & Associated Press, First Shipments of Genetically Modified Salmon Go to Restaurants in Eastern U.S., Anchorage Daily News, June 1 2021.
5. International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Japan Begins Sale of Genome-Edited "Madai" Red Sea Bream, ISAA Crop Biotech Update, October 20 2021.

Discussion Six: DNA and the Law

1. Peter J. Neufeld & Neville Coleman, When Science Takes the Witness Stand, Scientific American, May 1990, 262(5), 46-53.
2. Raffi Khatchadourian, How your Family Tree Could Catch a Killer, The New Yorker, November 15 2021.
3. Jamie Ducharme, Gentic Databases Could Identify Millions of Americans, Time Magazine, October 12 2018.

Discussion Seven: How to Mark Your Genes

1. Ray White & Jean-Marc Lalouel, Chromosome Mapping with DNA Markers, Scientific American, February 1988, 258(2), 40-48.
2. Kevin A. Strauss, Genomics for the People, Scientific American, December 2015, 313(6), 66-73.
3. Bonnie Rochman, Should Babies Be Sequenced? Scientific American, March 2017, 316: 72-75.

Discussion Eight: Human Gene Therapy - The Beginning

1. Inder M. Verma, Gene Therapy. Scientific American, November 1990, 263(5), 68-84.
2. Rick Lewis, Gene Therapy's Second Act, Scientific American, March 1 2014, 310(3), 52-57.

Discussion Nine: Human Gene Therapy - Twenty-First Century Applications

1. Leonard Petrucelli & Aaron D. Gitler, Unlocking The Mystery of ALS, Scientific American, June 2017, 316(6), 46-51.
2. Diana Kwon, Genetic Therapies for Brain Diseases, Nature, April 2021, 592(7853), 180-183.

Discussion Ten: The CRISPR Revolution

1. Michael Specter, DNA Revolution, National Geographic Magzine, August 2016, 31-55.
2. Yiren Lu, The DNA Synthesis Revolution, The New York Times Magazine, November 24 2021.
3. Carl Zimmer, A New Company With a Wild Mission: Bring Back the Wooly Mammoth, The New York Times, September 13 2021.
4. Carolyn Y. Johnson, Chinese Scientist's Claim of Gene-edited Babies Creates Uproar, The Washington Post, November 26 2018.
5. Sui-Lee Yee, Chinese Scientists Who Genetically Edited Babies Gets 3 Years in prison, The New York Times, December 30 2019.