BIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

Department of Biology, CSUDH Bio 340

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GENETIC DISORDER ASSIGNMENTS

1) Write an essay on a genetic disorder in humans • Pick a topic

Search web or talk to your friends and family to pick a genetic disorder that interests you. I recommend you to pick a disorder caused by a single gene. You CANNOT pick the same topic as your classmate does. I will bring a sign-up sheet to the class from Week 2 to Week 4. You can sign up before or after the class. First come first serve. If your topic is the same as the one already on the sheet, you have to choose another topic. The deadline for submitting the topic is September 17th.

• Do some research Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim) is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders, with links to literature references, sequence records, maps and related databases. It is the best database for information about human genetic disorders. Use OMIM as a starting place; you may need to use other sources as well. There are four different types of references you can use: a) Peer-reviewed research articles describing original research performed by the article’s authors. b) Peer-reviewed review articles in which the authors summarize the research of others. c) Articles from a lay source: a magazine, newspaper, trade journal, or other periodical not written primarily for scholars. d) Web pages that seems reliable to you, but that is not a part of any encyclopedia, book, journal, newspaper, or other formal publication. Be sure to state why you believe the document to be reliable in the References section.

• Write an essay Your target audience should be readers have a basic biology background (e.g. someone has taken Principles of Biology I) but does not know anything about this genetic disorder discussed in your essay. The main points you need to address in the essay are:

What is the gene(s) responsible or implicated in the disorder? How can changes in this gene(s) lead to the disorder? What is the inheritance pattern? What are the clinical features?

You are free to add other important information about the disorder. DO NOT cut-and-past. Plagiarism is a very serious offense.

• Essay format Cover page: title, name, date Main text: 1inch margins, 12pt font, double spaced, 2-4 pages References:

a) List your references using the National Library of Medicine Style http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/

Department of Biology, CSUDH Bio 340

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b) In addition, indicate the category of each reference (research article, review article, lay article, or website). You must use at least three different types of references. c) All references MUST be cited in the main text. You may cite them by using the last names of the authors and year in parentheses. For instance, (Brooker et al., 2011) for three or more authors; (Brooker and Widmaier, 2011) for two authors; (Brooker, 2011) for one author. d) There is no need to cite OMIM if you cite the original source.

• Revise your essay after receiving comments from your classmate 2) Review one of your classmates' essay and give detailed comments One of the best ways to improve your writing is to review/edit your peer's writing. The reviewers will be anonymous. You will know the author of the essay you are going to review, but you will not know who reviews your essay. Do not write down your name (reviewer's name) on this assignment.

• Print out the essay assigned to you I will send you one of your classmate's essay via email and I will be the only one knows who is the reviewer for each essay.

• Write down your comments on the essay directly or attach a summary of your comments at the end of the essay

Use the grading matrix for final essay described below as a guideline to provide honest and detailed comments. If you wish to receive constructive suggestions from your classmate to improve your final essay, you should do the same. Be sure to check the references. Grading: First draft (5 points): Submit an electronic copy to TurnItIn under Blackboard by 5pm, October 12th, 2014. Your grade will be based on on-time submission and accurate format. Peer-review assignment (10 points): Submit a hard copy to the instructor before the class on November 10th, 2014. Your grade will be based on if your comments are constructive and detailed. Final essay (15 points): Submit an electronic copy to TurnItIn under Blackboard by 5pm, December 3rd, 2014. Grading Matrix: Poor Average Good Excellent General impression and format (2 pts) 0.5 1 1.5 2 Clarity (3 pts) 0.5 or 1 1.5 2 or 2.5 3 Accuracy (3 pts) 0.5 or 1 1.5 2 or 2.5 3 Coherence (3 pts) 0.5 or 1 1.5 2 or 2.5 3 References (4 pts) 1 2 3 4