Biochemistry 118

Sophomore Seminar

Genomics & Medicine

In this seminar we will discuss the kind of knowledge we hope to gain from sequencing human and bacterial genomes and the implications of such knowledge for medicine and biomedical research. We will discuss novel diagnoses and treatment of diseases, including stem cells, gene therapy and rational drug design. We will also discuss the ethical implications of genetic information.

The course will be of interest to students who plan to major in biology or human biology, especially premedical students and biology majors who use molecular biology methods. It will also be useful to those interested in health care policy, intellectual-property rights and ethical issues.

Homework will include using genome and disease databases to determine the function of genes involved in disease. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Topics for Discussion

1. Introduction to molecular biology
2. Genomics
3. Bioinformatics
4. Novel Molecular Diagnostics
5. Infectious Diseases
6. Drug Development and the Pharmaceutical Industry
7. Stem Cell Therapies
8. Gene Therapy
9. Social and Ethical Issues Relating to Genomic Information
10. Patent Law

Projects Previously Submitted for the Course

1999

2000

2001

2002

2002 Stanford Overseas Program

2003

2004

2005

2007

Web Resources for the course

Slides from the introductory seminar

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DNA Structure

Protein Structure

Protein Fold Slides

Please Read: An Introduction to Protein Structure

Please Read: Proteins: three Dimensional Structure: Chapter Six from Voet & Voet 

The Structural Basis of Protein Folding and its Links with Human Disease Christopher Dobson.

Human Prion Diseases Amos Korczyn

Protein Misfolding and Prion Diseases, Fred Cohen

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Infectious Disease (read before Dr. Simone Manteuil-Brutlag's classes)

Please Read: Death in the Cannibal Islands

Optional: Chapter 5 - Disease and History (Frederick F. Cartwright 1972)

Optional: The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man and Society (René Dubos 1952)

Optional: Crises in the Nation's Capital

Optional:The Spanish Influenza Pandemic

Optional: Poliovirus

Optional: Sir Norman Gregg and rubella

Optional: Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets  

(as published on http://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html by Peter d'Errico 2001)

Optional: Notifiable Diseases (Department of Health and Human Services 1993)

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Drug Development and the Pharmaceutical Industry

ChemoInformatics and Drug Development

Doug Kalish's Value Chain for Drug Development

Biotech Impact on Healthcare

When Discriminantion is Good

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)

GenomeWeb.com offers breaking news coverage, original reporting

Other Biotech Websites

List of Biotech Firms

Phramacogenomics

Gil Chu's Slides on Can Big Pharma Change to benefit patients?

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Stem Cell Therapy

AAAS Policy on Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research

AAMC Policy on Stem Cell Nuclear Transfer

FASEB Report on BIll Banning Stem Cell Nucear Transfer

Orrin Hatch Senate Bill 303 permitting Stem Cell Nuclear Transfer Research

Stem Cell Policy Issues

Stanford Stem Cell Symposium 2002

Stanford Symposim on Stem Cell Research 2003

Stanford Magazines Review of Stem Cell Research Debate 2003

Paul Berg's Slides on Stem Cell Presentation 2005

Proposition 71 and Stem Cell Article from San Francisco Magazine

New Atlantis Articles

A Bioethics Agenda by Eric Cohen

Leon Kass Response to Eric Cohen

Cloning Logjam at the United Nations

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Patent Policy

Papers on Ethical Issues and Genetic Discrimination

 Michael J. Sandel The Case Against Perfection Abstract

Michael J. Sandel on Forum with Michael Krasny May 7, 2007

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act 2007 (HB 493) Seven page summary

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act 2007 (HB 493) Library of Congress

Provisions of the Estonian Human Genes Research Act

Laws Restricting Health Insurers' Use of Genetic Information: Impact on Genetic Discrimination by Mark A. Hall and Stephen S. Rich, American Journal of Human Genetics 66:293-307 (2000).

Genetic Privacy Laws and Patients' Fear of Discrimination by Health Insurers: The View from Genetic Counselors by Mark A. Hall and Stephen S. Rich Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 28:245-257 (2000).

Legal, Ethical and Social Issues in Human Genome Research by Henry T. Greely, Annual Review of Anthropology 27, 473-503 (1998).

Genotype Discrimination: The complex case for some legislative protection. Henry T. Greely. 149 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1483 (May 2001)

Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2: Recommendations of the Stanford Program in Genomics, Ethics and Society, by Barbara Koenig et al., Journal of Women’s Health 7(5) 531-545 (1998).

Genetic Testing for Cancer Susceptibility: Challenges for Creators of Practise Guidelines, Henry T. Greely NCCN Proceedings, Oncology 11(A) 171-176 (1997).

Gene tests bring agonizing choices by Richard Willing, USA Today April 23, 2001. (Note: You may need to print this article for better readability.)

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Papers on Gene Therapy

Please Read: Progress and Problems with the Use of Viral Vectors in Gene Therapy, Clare E. Thomas, Anja Ehrhardt and Mark A. Kay Nature Reviews in Genetics Volume 4, (May 2003) 2003 Pages 346-358.

Mark Kay's Lecture Slides on Gene Therapy 05-12-2005:

Towards Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy by John Wagner and Phyllis Gardner, Annual Review of Medicine 48, 203-216 (1997).

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