DUE March 25, April 1, and April 15,  2004

There are many levels of sources for learning what is new and exciting in science.  Obviously we use people and textbooks, but people are not always available and textbooks are not completely current, since it takes so long to publish them.  SO ... we must go to sources with higher turnover rates.

Original research is published in many different professional journals.  Very often, review articles are also published in these journals.  The intended audience is the same set of scientists who read the original reports, so these usually presuppose a fairly high level of information.

There are also magazines that specialize in review articles for everyone.  Scientific American is one such magazine.  Discover, Science News, and very often a weekly supplement in a local paper are others.  Clearly the intended audiences and the purpose of these sources is varied.

For this set of assignments, look at resources that specialize in news - "hot topics" - such as Science News, the newspaper, or any magazine that has the occasional article of interest, or the web.  Find AN “INBORN ERROR” or GENETIC  METABOLIC DISORDER that interests you.  Be sure to read the entire assignment so that you can plan ahead.

** For assignment 3:  DUE March 25, 2004:  email to kschmeidler@ivc.edu
** the name of the disorder
** identify the metabolic pathway which is affected, and how it is affected
** include a brief description of the disorder: who is affected, what happens to the affected person, etc.
** 2 URLs
** 1 primary source citation (complete, proper citation)
         --  Do not choose a clinical case study;
         --  Use only laboratory, experimental research papers in peer-reviewed journals.

** For assignment 4:  DUE April 1, 2004:  Choose a secondary or tertiary source article (a review) that interests you.  It should have been published within the last year.

Read it.  Write [this should not be more than a page, total]:
** Brief  (approximately 1-2 paragraphs) summary of the main points in the article (from the author's point of view). - do not try to go into detail, just write what the article was about, in your own words.  Do not discuss the article nor the author; discuss the topic itself.
** The one or two points which you found most important, interesting, intriguing, or new to yourself.
**  At least one issue or question which follows from the work described i.e. what the next step should be.
**  At least 1 future implication (e.g. medical) of this work.
**  At least 1 ethical implication of this work  (or its future potential as discussed for #4)
**  How the material presented in the article relates to some issue other than what is specifically mentioned by the author (if you can think of some).

Do not write this as a series of answers to these questions.  Integrate it all into a single coherent essay.

** For assignment 5:  DUE April 15, 2004: choose an original research paper, a primary source.  Do not choose a clinical case study; use only laboratory, experimental research papers in peer-reviewed journals.  This may be, but does not need to be the one you cited for part 1.  Read the paper carefully, keeping in mind the “guidelines”. Write [this should not be more than 1-2 pages, total]

1. Brief summary, in your own words, as above.  These should include increasing detail as the articles become more technical & complex.

2. The one or two points which you found most intriguing

3. The main approaches used in the study
** Identify one or two techniques used in the study.
** Why were these techniques used?
** Do you understand how they were done?  Explain.
** Read the Methods section; ask a technical question which, when you know the answer, would help clarify the paper.

4. What is the next big question?  Where is the mystery, the intrigue?  What do you think they will try to do next?  What would you try to do next?  Explain.

FOR ALL 3:  Attach a copy of the article (or if for some reason you picked a really long one and did not copy it for your own use, attach a copy of the first page) to your typed summary.  If you did this online, include the URL as well as a complete standard citation of the paper version of the primary research paper.

Please note that, in all cases, you are asked to summarize the topic, not review or describe either the article or the author(s).  DO NOT QUOTE.  Use your own words to summarize the material, and then to respond to it. Use the questions outlined above as guidelines to organize your essays.  DO NOT use these questions as if they were exam questions to be addressed by number, in order.