San Francisco State University Genetically Modified Organisms Research Topics: You may write on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), stem cells , clonin

San Francisco State University Genetically Modified Organisms Research Topics:
You may write on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), stem cells , cloning, gene therapy,
biopesticides, health implications of fracking, health disparities in different communities, a
certain disease, or a new medical technology. If you have any other human biology topic in
mind, you can always ask me to make sure it is relevant. In this paper you will gather and interpret scientific information from a variety of sources and use
that information to discuss scientific issues in a current topic in biology. Paper Length: 3- 4.5 pages
(For papers either shorter than 3 pages or over 4.5 pages in length, 5 points will be deducted) Introduction and Research: (20 points)
You will introduce the topic with a detailed description of its relation to health and human
biology. Diverse points of view on the topic can be introduced here. Analysis and Scientific Method: (10 points) You will use scientific theories and methods of inquiry to explain phenomena observed in
laboratory or field settings.
Questions that can be addressed regarding the design of a scientific study in an article:
• Was the experimental design valid based upon scientific method or could it be
improved? If so, how? Specifically, did the researchers conduct the research
themselves? Does or should this matter? Why or why not?
• Did the researchers study human or animal subjects? Were the sample sizes large
enough in both control and experimental groups? Was a placebo used? What was the
duration of the study? Was this conducted over a long enough period of time? Was it a
“controlled experiment”?
• Were there possible opportunities for confounding variables to arise? Could either
subject or researcher biases have confounded results? How would you know?
• Was it a blind or double blind study? Who were the subjects? Were the demographic
groups studied (based upon age, genetics, gender, ethnicity, obesity) broad enough or
narrow enough to make either specific or more general conclusions?