Details
About this course
*This course will start on 2015 Quarter Four
Science plays a crucial role in your decisions as you go about your daily life. The representatives you elect and the legislation you vote on influences science legislation, limits and funding. This class will teach you fundamentals of modern biology to
help you make more informed voting decisions.
As you learn the fundamentals of Biology, we'll explore the scientific issues sparking political debate:
- Genetically modified food and genetically modified crops
- Genetically modified organisms
- Evolution vs. creationism
- Reactions to pandemic disease
- The risks and benefits of vaccination
- Obesity and health care costs
- How extinctions impact the planet
- Space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life
- Cancer research funding
- Aging
- Sexual behavior
We look forward to engaging course discussions about how each vote in a democracy affects the way biology functions in your everyday life.
Outline
- The science behind making informed decisions at the polls
- Explore the scientific issues sparking political debate
- How each vote in a democracy affects the way biology functions in your everyday life
Speaker/s
Jasper Rine is a Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development and has been on the UC Berkeley Faculty since 1982. His research specialties include epigenetics, molecular genetics, human genetic variation, and dog genetics. He has authored
over 170 research papers and has taught a wide range of both undergraduate and graduate level courses to well over 10,000 students. His Bio1A webcasts continue to be watched around the world by students of all ages and interests. In addition to his faculty
activities, he served as Director of the LBNL Human Genome Center from 2001-2004, has served on multiple editorial boards, governmental advisory boards, and industrial advisory boards, and has founded several successful biotech companies. His honors include
the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award, President of the Genetics Society of America, election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Fyodor Urnov is a "genome editor" – he works on genetically engineering human cells to treat severe disease. An associate adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, for the past 14 years he has taught genetics, biochemistry, and general biology, and prior to that he taught genetics at Brown, where he won a Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. Fyodor is a team leader at Sangamo BioSciences. In 2014, he was placed by Thomson Reuters on the list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds,” but that pales next to the fact that he is awed by the opportunity to teach with Jasper. For more information about Fyodor, please see his full bio at http://www.math4science.org/meet-the-scientists3/fyodor-urnov