SELECTED TOPICS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE: POLITICS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

Transcription

1 SELECTED TOPICS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE: POLITICS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY Dr. Tricia Robertson Bogle Course # POLS Montclair State University Spring 2006 Office: Dickson Hall 263 Office Hours: MW 8:30 10:00 a.m. Class Meets: MW 10:00 11:15 a.m. Phone: Classroom: University Hall, TriciaBogle@aol.com (or) boglet@mail.montclair.edu Course Description Recent advances in biotechnology have given us greater ability than ever before to manipulate the world we live in. Using new biotechnologies, we have achieved extraordinary power to shape and change animals, plants, and ultimately ourselves. Our ability to create organisms that might once have seemed merely the stuff of science fiction (such as glow-in-the-dark vegetables made by inserting the genes of a jellyfish into a plant; corn that produces its own pesticide; clones of beloved pets or prizewinning pigs), raise a number of difficult political, legal, social, economic, and ethical questions. This course offers an opportunity to consider various policy and regulatory issues surrounding biotechnology. There is currently much debate and disagreement over whether and how several of the newest and most powerful biotechnologies should be used and/or regulated. Examining these policy issues from different legal, economic, moral, literary, and social perspectives will help students think critically and encourage them to form their own reasoned opinions about the promise and potential perils of cutting-edge biotechnologies. As we study our current policies (which are in many cases, still in flux as government regulation struggles to keep pace with advances in science) students will be asked to consider the ways in which seemingly simple policy questions (such as: Why do we in the U.S. currently permit reproductive cloning of animals but not of humans?) often raise deeper and more fundamental philosophic questions about life s meaning and purpose. (Some of these questions include: What if anything makes human beings unique among animals, worthy of special dignity and consideration? What, exactly, is natural for humankind? Is what is natural the same as what is good? What constitutes a good life or happiness for human beings? How can governments act best promote human happiness? What is the meaning of progress and how should we understand or define human improvement?) Required Texts 1. Leon Kass, Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics 2. Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council on Bioethics Available online, in PDF format, at: 3. Matthew Scully, Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy 4. Leon Kass & James Q. Wilson, The Ethics of Human Cloning 5. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 6. Weekly supplemental readings for the course will be placed on E-Reserve at the University Library. (See Schedule and Assignments section, below. The password to access these readings is: bogle)

2 Grading and Class Requirements Attendance and Participation 10% Reading Quizzes 10% Essay #1 (6-8 pages) 15% Essay #2 (6-8 pages) 20% Midterm Exam 20% Final Exam 25% Notes on Requirements and Grading Procedures 1. Quizzes: Over the course of the semester, there will be 6 quizzes on the assigned readings. Quiz dates are listed in the schedules and assignments section. The quizzes will be given at the beginning of the appointed class meeting. PLEASE ARRIVE ON TIME. You will be permitted to drop your lowest quiz score, or to miss ONE quiz. However, please be advised that absolutely no make up quizzes will be given. If you miss class or are late on a quiz day, the missed quiz will count as your dropped quiz. 2. Essays: Two essays will be due on the dates listed in the schedules and assignments section. Essays will be collected at the beginning of the appointed class meeting. Late papers will be penalized ½ letter grade per day. No exceptions. 3. A Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism (presenting any one else s words or ideas as your own) is a very serious offense. Students who plagiarize ANY portion of a paper will receive an F for the paper, and will not have the opportunity to re-write it. In addition, the offence will be reported to the University. At the University s discretion, students found guilty of plagiarism will be expelled from the University. Schedule and Assignments: Week 1: Introduction, Procedures, Course Overview 1/18 (Wed) Week 2: Biotechnology and Plants: The Promise of Plenty 1/23 (Mon) Michael Pollan, Playing God in the Garden, New York Times Magazine, October 25, 1998 (photocopy) In Illinois, An Apostle of Modified Food, and Biotech and the Paradox of Plenty selections from Bill Lambrecht, Dinner at the New Gene Café (photocopy) 1/25 (Wed) David Magnus and Arthur Caplan, The Primacy of the Moral in the GMO Debate, and Gary Comstock, Ethics and Genetically Modified Foods selections from Genetically Modified Foods: Debating Biotechnology (photocopy) Week 3: Debating Frankenfood : Assessing the Risks & Benefits of Genetically Modified Crops 1/30 (Mon) Peter Pringle, Food, Inc. (photocopy)

3 POLS : POLITICS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, SPRING 2006 Schedule and Assignments (continued): 2/1 (Wed) QUIZ #1 Should GM Foods be Labeled? Ruse & Castle, Genetically Modified Foods: Debating Biotechnology, pp (on e- reserve) Jane Goodall, Ch. 4, Harvest for Hope, pp (on e-reserve) Week 4: Biotechnology and Animals 2/6 (Mon) You Are What You Eat? Manufacturing Animals & Debating Dinner Michael Pollan, Power Steer New York Times Magazine, March 31, 2002 (e-reserve, or available online at: Matthew Scully, Dominion (Ch. 6, pp ) 2/8 (Wed) QUIZ #2 Religious Perspectives on Animals & Biotechnology Matthew Scully, Dominion, Ch. 1 (all) and Ch 8 (pp subsection titled Sinning Bravely ) Week 5: Building a Better Mouse GM Animals, Stem Cells, and Cloning 2/13 (Mon) Jamie Shreeve, The Other Stem-Cell Debate The New York Times, April 10, (on e-reserve) David Quammen, Clone Your Troubles Away: Dreaming at the Frontiers of Animal Husbandry Harper s Magazine, February 2005, pp (on e-reserve) Andrea Dworkin, Sasha, Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies about Human Cloning, eds. Nussbaum & Sunstein, pp (e-reserve) See also: Genetic Savings and Clone ( [Questions for Essay #1 will be handed out in class today] 2/15 (Wed) QUIZ #3 Biotechnology and Humans: Body Brokering Michael Finkel, This Little Kidney Went to Market, New York Times Magazine, May 27, 2001 (e-reserve, or online at: Week 6: Transplant Technology: Economics and Ethics of Human Organ Transplants 2/20 (Mon) Thomas G. Peters, Life or Death: The Issue of Payment in Cadaveric Organ Donation ; in Edmund D. Pellegrino, Families Self-Interest and the Cadaver s Organs: What Price

4 Consent? ; Barnett, Blair, and Kaserman, Improving Organ Donation: Compensation versus Markets ; Caplan, Van Buren, and Tilney, Financial Compensation for Cadaver Organ Donation: Good Idea or Anathema? ; Radcliffe-Richards et. al., The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales in Caplan & Coelho, The Ethics of Organ Transplants: The Current Debate, pp (on e-reserve) 2/22 (Wed) ESSAY #1 DUE Leon Kass, Organs for Sale? Propriety, Property, and the Price of Progress, Ch. 6 Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity, pp Richard Selzer, Wither Thou Goest, Imagine a Woman and Other Tales (e-reserve) Week 7: Fertility Frontiers: IVF, Sperm & Egg Donation, Surrogacy 2/27 (Mon) Amy Harmon, Are You My Sperm Donor? Few Clinics Will Say New York Times, Jan 20, 2006 (e-reserve) Amy Harmon, Hello, I m Your Sister. Our Father is Donor 150 New York Times, November 20, 2005 (e-reserve) David Plotz, My Short, Scary Career as a Sperm Donor, from The Genius Factory (on e-reserve) [If available: Documentary Film, Offspring, by Barry Stevens] 3/1 (Wed) Feminist & GLBT Perspectives on Reproductive Biotechnology Chritine Stolba, Overcoming Motherhood (e-reserve/photocopy, or online at: Suzanne Holland, Beyond the Embryo: A Feminist Appraisal of the Embryonic Stem Cell Debate. (e-reserve/photocopy) Susan Dominus, Growing up with Mom and Mom The New York Times, October 24, 2004 [Study Questions for Midterm Exam will be handed out today in class] Week 8: Fertility Technology, Economics, Race, Class & Gender 3/6 (Mon) Assignment: Do a Google search for egg donor, sperm donor, and surrogate mothers What do you find? (Investigate cost, products and procedures available, locations, etc. What can you surmise about the race, class, gender, and background of the various parties involved in sperm, egg, and surrogacy transactions? Print out a small selection of the relevant information you find, and come to class prepared to discuss your findings. ) 3/8 (Wed) MIDTERM EXAMINATION IN CLASS

5 Week 9: SPRING BREAK AT MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY 3/13 (Mon) No Class 3/15 (Wed) No Class Week 10: Building Better Humans: Genetic Manipulation & Enhancement 3/20 (Mon) Leon Kass, The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives, Ch 4. Life, Liberty, and Defense of Dignity Begin in-class film: Gattaca 3/22 (Wed) QUIZ #4 In-class film & discussion: Gattaca Readings: Excerpts from Gattaca screenplay (on e-reserve) Better Children, Ch. 2 in Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, pp (e-reserve) Week 11: Beyond Therapy: Improved Humans 3/27 (Mon) In-class film & discussion: Gattaca (finish) Superior Performance, Ch. 3 in Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, pp (e-reserve) Stephen S. Hall, The Short of It The New York Times Magazine, October 16, 2005 (ereserve) 3/29 (Wed) Human Cloning: History, Politics, and Scientific Background Human Cloning and Human Dignity, pp. XXXIX LXII ( Executive Summary ) and pp (Chapters 2,3,4: Historical Aspects of Cloning, On Terminology, Scientific Background ) This report is also available online at: and Week 12: Human Cloning and the Yuck Factor 4/3 (Mon) Leon R. Kass, The Wisdom of Repugnance, in Kass & Wilson, The Ethics of Human Cloning, pp /5 (Wed) QUIZ#5 Cloning Rights & Reasons to Clone Humans Kass & Wilson, The Ethics of Human Cloning, pp

6 Week 13: Cloning Rights and Regulation 4/10 (Mon) Carson Strong, Cloning and Infertility ; Glen McGee and Ian Wilmut, A Model for Regulating Cloning ; Justine Burley and John Harris, Human Cloning and Child Welfare in The Human Cloning Debate, pp (on e-reserve) Richard Dawkins, What s Wrong with Cloning? in Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies about Human Cloning, ed. Nussbaum & Sunstein (e-reserve) Cass Sunstein, The Constitution and the Clone, in Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies about Human Cloning, ed. Nussbaum & Sunstein (e-reserve) 4/12 (Wed) Cloning as A Reproductive Option for Would-Be Parents in GLBT Community William N. Eskridge, Jr & Edward Stein, Queer Clones in Clones and Clones, ed. Nussbaum & Sunstein (e-reserve) Week 14: Literary Perspectives on Cloning: Delights and Dangers of Human Manufacture 4/17 (Mon) A Selection of Short Stories and Prose Poetry Part V: Fiction and Fantasy, in Clones and Clones, ed. Nussbaum & Sunstein (e-resesrve) 4/19 (Wed) QUIZ #6 Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Chapters 1-6 [Questions for Essay #2 will be handed out in class today] Week 15: Literary Perspectives on Cloning: Huxley s Brave New World 4/24 (Mon) Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Chapters /26 (Wed) Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Chapters Week 16: Final Class 5/1 (Mon) ESSAY #2 DUE No new reading [Study Questions for Final will be handed out today in class] FINAL EXAM DATE & TIME WILL BE AS SCHEDULED BY THE UNIVERSITY