Unit B1a: Topic 1 - Environment

As usual, new food production techniques raise new ethical, social and environmental questions.

Guidance for students: Why are so many people worried about GM technology?

Glossary: Genetic engineering, genetically modified and organic.

Learning outcomes: Students will be assessed on their ability to;

• Discuss the ethics and principles of organic farming and explain why organic products are more expensive than non-organic produce
• (Understand that crop plants can be genetically modified and the reasons for doing so)

Unit B1a: Topic 2 - Genes

Scientists are able to extract and modify genes in order to change the properties of crops and animals used as food. Scientists are also able to clone organisms and some scientists hope to produce cloned body parts for transplantation surgery. Studying this topic gives students opportunities to interpret data produced through breeding experiments. Students can use various kinds of resources to consider the benefits, drawbacks and risks of scientific decisions are made and how ethical concerns of society can be considered, for example in relation to cloning.

Guidance for students: Are clones really like they are in the movies?; How can cows make drugs in their milk?; How can genetics be used to cure diseases?

Learning objectives:

• Genetic modifications are used for a range of purposes
• There are many ethical considerations associated with the advances in genetic modification

Glossary: Clone, forensic, transgenic.

Learning outcomes: Students will be assessed on their ability to;

• Describe some of the implications of the outcome of the Human Genome Project to include the use of DNA evidence in forensic science and medicine
• Discuss how the lives of two people, one suffering from Cystic Fibrosis and the other Breast Cancer, would change if these diseases could be treated genetically
• (Evaluate the potential for using transgenic animals, including the production of 'designer milk' for example milk containing human antibodies and low cholesterol milk.)
• Describe the social and ethical concerns of cloning mammals, including the possibility of cloning of human body parts for transplant surgery
• (Consider the contemporary theory of 'designer babies' and explain why today's scientists are finding so much opposition to this being publicly accepted.)

Unit B1b: Topic 3 - Electrical and Chemical Signals

Some hormones can be produced by genetic modification of bacteria for medical purposes e.g. in insulin production.

Glossary: Genetically modified,