Genetic Disease Project

Overview

Imagine you are grown and married. You and your spouse are expecting a child.

Now, imagine your doctor tells you your child will be born with a genetic disorder.

What will you do??

Requirements

• Doctor’s Report – What would the doctor tell you? What are the symptoms, treatment options, current medical research, statistics?

• Genetic Counselor’s Report – What would a genetic counselor tell you? What kind of genetic disorder is it, how is it passed from generation to generation, are there gene therapy treatments available?

• Parent’s Report – What are you thinking as a parent? How will your life change, how will you cope, what accommodations will you need to make for your child?

• Community Resources – What resources are available to you in your local community? Are there donations, supplies, special programs, or support groups available?

Options for Project

• Blog – create a blog describing your experience (including reports from the doctor and genetic counselor, links to community organizations, descriptions of your feelings, pictures from your research, etc.)

• Virtual Scrapbook – create a virtual scrapbook with pictures and images from your research and descriptions of your experiences

• Video or Slideshow – use a program like Movie Maker or PhotoStory to edit together pictures, text and music or narration

• Website – create a website with information about the genetic disorder (include pages for “My Story,” information about the disease, links to community resources)

Timeline

• Choose a genetic disorder and start research• At the end of this week – know your chosen

disorder, know what kind of project you will create, start making index cards for each section

• Next week – turn in 4 index cards with research (one for each section in the project)

• End of next week – submit a rough draft to the class wiki for feedback from classmates

• DUE DATE – submit final draft of project to class wiki

Sample Project – Virtual Scrapbook

Sample Blog or Website

• Today was not about Tay Sachs

• What I would tell you

• My Story with Cystic Fibrosis

Sample Video

• 99 Balloons