Rogers Jill Cellars, Taylor Ann T S
Pre-health Advising, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN 47933-0352, USA.
J Genet Couns. 2011 Jun;20(3):231-40. doi: 10.1007/s10897-011-9352-2. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
Educating undergraduates about current genetic testing and genomics can involve novel and creative teaching practices. The higher education literature describes numerous pedagogical approaches in the laboratory designed to engage science and liberal arts students. Often these experiences involve students analyzing their own genes for various polymorphisms, some of which are associated with disease states such as an increased risk for developing cancer. While the literature acknowledges possible ethical ramifications of such laboratory exercises, authors do not present recommendations or rubrics for evaluating whether or not the testing is, in fact, ethical. In response, we developed a laboratory investigation and discussion which allowed undergraduate science students to explore current DNA manipulation techniques to isolate their p53 gene, followed by a dialogue probing the ethical implications of examining their sample for various polymorphisms. Students never conducted genotyping on their samples because of ethical concerns, so the discussion served to replace actual genetic testing in the class. A basic scientist led the laboratory portion of the assignment. A genetic counselor facilitated the discussion, which centered around existing ethical guidelines for clinical genetic testing and possible challenges of human genotyping outside the medical setting. In their final papers, students demonstrated an understanding of the practice guidelines established by the genetics community and acknowledged the ethical considerations inherent in p53 genotyping. Given the burgeoning market for personalized medicine, teaching undergraduates about the psychosocial and ethical dimensions of human gene testing seems important and timely, and introduces an additional role genetic counselors can play in educating consumers about genomics.
对本科生进行当前基因检测和基因组学方面的教育可以采用新颖且富有创意的教学方法。高等教育文献描述了许多旨在吸引理科和文科学生参与的实验室教学方法。通常这些实践活动包括让学生分析自己基因中的各种多态性，其中一些与疾病状态相关，比如患癌风险增加。虽然文献承认此类实验室活动可能存在伦理影响，但作者并未给出评估检测是否符合伦理的建议或准则。作为回应，我们开展了一项实验室调查和讨论，让本科理科学生探索当前用于分离其p53基因的DNA操作技术，随后进行一场对话，探讨检测其样本中的各种多态性所涉及的伦理问题。由于伦理方面的担忧，学生们从未对自己的样本进行基因分型，所以该讨论在课堂上起到了替代实际基因检测的作用。一位基础科学家负责该作业的实验室部分。一位遗传咨询师协助进行讨论，讨论围绕临床基因检测的现有伦理准则以及医疗环境之外人类基因分型可能面临的挑战展开。在他们的期末论文中，学生们展示了对遗传学领域制定的实践指南的理解，并认识到p53基因分型中固有的伦理考量。鉴于个性化医疗市场的蓬勃发展，向本科生传授人类基因检测的社会心理和伦理层面的知识似乎既重要又及时，同时也引入了遗传咨询师在向消费者普及基因组学知识方面可以发挥的额外作用。
