Lab 01: Family pedigree analysis

On Tuesday, March 10, we had the first lab of the quarter, in which we did a very basic family pedigree analysis of some traits that show a Mendelian mode of inheritance, and assigned topics for the bioethics projects.

Bioethics project assignments

We talked about the bioethics projects before the actual lab exercise. Students picked their teams (four members per team) and proposed topics they would like to work with. We discussed briefly the reasons for which people thought certain topics would be interesting, and based on such reasons and after weighting preferences topics were assigned. The following topics were picked:

• Privacy of genetic information
• Embryonic stem cell research
• Prenatal screening
• Designer babies
• Gene therapy

We then discussed some of the requirements for both, the bioethics papers and the debates, as stipulated on the lab guide for week 9.


Family pedigree analysis

Following lab guide No 1 we performed a series of family pedigree analyses for some human traits (hitchhiker's thumb, free vs. attached earlobe, tongue rolling, and hand folding or clasping). Each student surveyed such traits in their immediate family in order to perform the analyses.

Then we performed a couple od simulations (gametogenesis and fertilziation) to illustrate the Mendelian principles of segregation and independent assortment.


Fire alarm and building evacuation

It was an eventful lab. In the middle of it a fire alarm (cause still unknown to the instructor) forced us to evacuate the buiklding and stay out for about half hour. Fortunately we were able to resume activities soon enough.

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