Genetic Disorders Project

As part of our unit on genetics, we will be researching a variety of genetic disorders and preparing research reports on these disorders.  Each student will choose a genetic disorder.  The final project should include the following information:

What must be included in the report?

The report should follow the outline below.  The questions listed are designed to provoke thought and to help you decide what is significant and what is not.  They are not to be answered as individual questions.

A.   Introduction:

·        What is the name of the disorder?  Are there any other names by which it is commonly known?  Is there any significance to these names?  Are there any famous people who have the disorder?

·        Are there any interesting facts or stories about this disorder?

B.   Mode of Inheritance:

·        All genetic disorders are inherited.  There are several different ways in which they can be inherited.  Determine whether your disorder is an autosomal dominant trait, and autosomal recessive trait, a sex-linked trait, a chromosomal error, or a multifactorial trait (polygenic disorder).

·        How does this pattern of inheritance work?  What is the genotype and phenotype of an affected individual?  What are the possible genotypes and phenotypes of the parents?  What are the probabilities of having or not having this disorder?

·        Is the disorder found more commonly in certain groups of people, such as a particular ethnic group, religious group, or sex?

C.   Clinical description of the disorder:

·        What are the features of the disorder?  How does it affect the victim?  What is it like to have the disorder?  How would you describe the disorder to someone else?

·        What are the internal, external, biochemical, and psychological symptoms of the disorder?

·        Is the disorder physically limiting?  Is it life threatening?  Is it invariably fatal?  What is the life expectancy of a person who has this disorder?

D.   Treatment:

·        Can anything be done for a victim of this disorder?  Can the basic defect be treated?  Is there a cure?

·        Can the symptoms of the disorder be treated?  Is there any gene therapy for this disorder?

·        What research is currently being done?

E.   Detection:

·        Can the disorder be detected before symptoms appear?  If so, how?

·        Can the disorder be detected prenatally?  If so, how?

·        Is there any way to detect a carrier for the disorder?  If so, how?

F.    Conclusion

Paper Guidelines

The factual material that is expected in your genetic disorder project is listed above.  You will need to present this material in the form of a paper.  The guidelines for this paper are as follows:

1.    All papers must be typed.

2.    Papers must be presented in 12-point font, double spaced, and with standard margins.

3.    Papers must have a title page which includes:

·        Your name

·        Date

·        Name of the genetic disorder

4.    You will need to use various sources for your research.  You will need six sources.  Sources must be high school quality- books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and age-appropriate websites.  No dictionaries or encyclopedias may be used.  This includes encyclopedia websites like Wikipedia.  No more than three website sources and one textbook source may be used.  I encourage you to use the reference materials provided by our school library in order to find appropriate resources.  See the attached handout!

5.    Papers must include a bibliography.  You can use Noodle Tools to create a bibliography.  See attached handout for passwords.

6.    You will be turning your paper in to Turnitin.com.  Please be prepared to do so.  You can do this from home or school.  We will go over how to do this in class a few days before the project is due.

This project is due on ____________________.  Please handle all computer and printing problems in a timely fashion so that your paper can be turned in on time.  In order to participate in the field trip to the Natural History Museum, you must earn at least 70% on this project.