COURSE OVERVIEW

Many ethical and policy issues are being raised by advances in genetic research and clinical testing. This course began as a class project in the Fall of 2001 during "God, Adam & Eve: Theology and Science in the Genome Age," a course offered to students at Chicago Theological Seminary, other ACTS schools, and the University of Chicago. Unit One, which was developed during that course, focuses on basic material about genetics and the Human Genome Project. Basic science information is followed by in-depth explorations of Genetics, Disease & Theology; Communities & Genetic Testing; Genetic Information & the Variation of Life; and the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP). Each lesson is coupled with exercises designed to make you think about your current opinions about some ethical issues tied to current research.

Units Two and Three will be developed in Fall, 2003 as a class project during "Race, Gender, and Genetics," a course offered through a joint project of Chicago Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago, and funded by the Templeton Foundation.

Units Four and Five will be developed following a conference on Race, Gender, and Genetics that will be held in the Spring of 2004. The conference will also be funded by the Templeton Foundation.

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