Incorporation of ethical and societal issues in biochemistry into a senior seminar course

Abstract

In their senior year, biochemistry majors at the University of Detroit Mercy take a senior seminar course entitled "Recent Advances in Biochemistry Related to Societal Issues." Students read papers selected from the current literature and take turns presenting these papers to the class. Papers are grouped into units dealing with molecular biology, protein structure/function, apoptosis/cancer/AIDS, and neurochemistry. The ethical/societal implications of the research are also discussed. In addition, a term paper dealing with societal issues and written in dialogue format by teams of students is required. The students present their dialogue papers as skits to an audience composed of faculty as well as junior biochemistry, chemistry, and biology majors. Based upon a survey taken at the beginning, at midterm, and at the end of the semester, the familiarity of the students with the ethical/societal issues related to the subjects covered increased significantly. Also, in course evaluations administered at the end of the semester, students expressed a high degree of satisfaction with this course. © 2003 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.