BIF 101 Response paper #3 – Fall 2008
Assigned: 11/13/08
Due: 11/25/08
This paper covers chapters 11-14 in the Venter book. This material covers the events up
to and including the sequencing of the human genome. This was an epic race between
Venter and the government-sponsored sequencing team.
Your paper will be a personal response to what you have read. Your paper should be 2-3
pages in length with standard formatting. If you have any questions please ask.
Your paper should include the following:
1. Describe the most interesting thing you read in these chapters and characterize it as
scientific, personal, political, etc. as appropriate.
2. Has what you read affected the way you think about science, in particular, about how
it proceeds and all of the non-scientific aspects of the way science is carried out. Explain.
3. The book makes reference to Drosophila, the fruit fly that has served as a model
organism for many research endeavors. Recently the study of fruit flies was ridiculed
during the presidential campaign. Name a human disease that has benefited from fruit fly
studies, and explain what a “model organism” is and why such organisms are important
in scientific research. You may need to search on the Internet to answer this question,
make sure to list the web page(s) you visit (URLs) in your paper.
4. Select anything else that intrigued, bothered, excited, or stood out to you in these
chapters. Explain what it is and why.