Math & Science Check In

Amazing discussions today...great work on GATTACA.  We hope you have a ton of ideas to develop for your critical thinking responses.  Your first response is due on Wednesday.

Please ensure that you have a new journal for exponents tomorrow.

HOMEROOM REMINDER:  PLEASE BRING BACK YOUR IMMUNIZATION FORMS.

Here are the GATTACA questions (remember to choose only 1...each person in your group must complete a response):

1)   During a scene in GATTACA, Vincent’s parents visited a doctor who specialized in child conception to select the best traits for his future brother.  They hoped that his brother would have the best possible chances for a successful life.  Some of the traits selected seem like a good decision, while others seem to cross „the line‟. List some of the traits that were manipulated for Anton, Vincent’s brother and identify if you think each one is a trait that should be pre-selected before birth or is a trait that should be left to chance.  What criteria did you use to decide which traits were acceptable to change and which ones were not?  Whose decision should this be?  Should there be laws about which traits could be manipulated and which should be left alone?  Where should those laws draw the line?

2)   One of the first questions asked by the geneticist to Vincent’s parents was to choose the sex of their baby.  Molecular biologists have developed a technique that enables parents to select the sex of their future child.  This technique simply separates the X carrying sperm from the Y carrying sperm and inseminating females with the preferred sex chromosomes.  This procedure is currently banned except for medical reasons (potential parents with sex-linked diseases may choose to have a girl, avoiding the possibility of having a boy with hemophilia, for example).  Should sex selection for medical and non-medical reasons be available?  What do you think are some of the implications of this technique?

3)   During the gala party scene in GATTACA, a woman submits a saliva sample from a recent kiss to screen her potential boyfriend/husband’s DNA.  Is she violating his rights by doing this without his knowledge?  Is this in any way similar to performing a background check?  How much would a DNA screen reveal about someone’s personality and intelligence.