Harris

van der Meulen

The Task Force on Life in the Age of the Genome, appointed by Cornell Provost Biddy Martin in February 2005, has submitted a final report suggesting how the $650 million New Life Sciences Initiative might also engage social scientists and humanists on such topics as the ethical, legal and social aspects of cutting-edge genomics.

The report includes six different intellectual themes: Understanding Human Diversity: Nature and Nurture; Political Dimensions of the Life Sciences Revolution; the New Biology and Cultural Change; Public Participation in Science-based Policy; Health and Health Care in the Age of the Genome; and Food Innovations and Challenges: Significance, Production and Distribution.

The committee was co-chaired by David Harris, vice provost for social sciences, and Marjolein van der Meulen, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The report also offers 10 recommendations on how to forge collaborations within the themes. These include organizing an annual Life in the Age of the Genome Summer Seminar at which humanists, social scientists and life scientists might explore the social and genetic elements of a specific issue, like obesity, parenting or cognitive ability. Other recommendations include research fellows and teaching fellows programs and a lecture series.

"I'm personally excited about the Life in the Age of the Genome report and look forward to working with David Harris to implement recommendations that build bridges among our numerous capabilities in the social and life sciences," said Stephen Kresovich, vice provost for the life sciences, and task force member. "We already have some ideas in mind as first steps in this process."

A survey of more than 800 faculty members not only provided an inventory of genomics-related teaching, research and service activities but also revealed that cutting-edge genomics research on campus is rarely mentioned in course lectures. While 44 percent of the survey's faculty respondents reported that their research is related to the life sciences and genomics, only 27 percent said their courses touched on these topics.

Diane Morton

This image shows a nematode worm embryo in its four-cell stage of development and the distribution of a member of a protein family, called PAR-4 (green), which is involved in the production of cancer in humans and is required for unequal sized pairs of cells necessary for proper development in nematodes. Professor Kenneth Kemphues' lab in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics is currently using genomics approaches to identify other proteins that work with PAR-4.

The report also recommends that the university library develop and collect case studies that can be used to broaden existing courses and raise ethical issues. For example, Harris teaches an undergraduate course in research methods and has used a Stanford University case study of hypothetical surgeries to motivate discussion of ethical issues. In one case, his students debated the ethics of surgeons drilling holes in patients' heads simply to provide a control for a study on the efficacy of a surgical brain procedure.

"The first step is just to figure out what cases are out there," said Harris. "Then we will need to get grad students and faculty to write new cases to develop a case library that faculty can draw on when teaching courses."