International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

MYP-NC
Religious Education YEAR 5
MYP- ACS-NC
Science YEAR 5

Assessment: Research and Essay

In Science you have been looking at gene therapy and genetic engineering. In Religious
Education you have been looking at ways people perceive perfection and the dignity of the
human person.
Based on these two curriculum areas and what you have been studying come up with an
essay topic that will enable you to achieve to a high standard in each of the criteria below.

Religious Education - Task Description

Complete the following research using a variety of sources. The emphasis here is to write in
your own words and record your sources accurately. Once you have completed all your
research and notes come up with your own opinion on gene therapy.
1.
2.
3.
4.

What does the Youcat say?

What does the Bible say? Consider both the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospels.
What does eugenics teach us about genetics?
What does the media tell us about genetics? Find a couple of articles from newspapers
and magazines.
5. How has agriculture benefitted (crops and livestock) from genetic engineering?
Write your notes in dot points and at the end of each dot point use and in-text reference or a
footnote for your source. At the end of all your notes include a complete and accurate
bibliography, making sure it is alphabetical order.
Create a mind map to summarise your research on genetic engineering / gene therapy.
CONCLUSION:
Write two or three paragraphs about gene therapy / genetic engineering summarizing the key
ideas you have learnt. End with a few sentences or a paragraph outlining your own opinion on
this issue based on your research. There should be no new ideas in this final section.

What you have researched here can be used in your science

essay.
Once you have completed all of this research you then need to reflect on your learning during
this process. Remember the emphasis has been on using a number of different sources, notetaking in your own words and on recording sources accurately.
1. How good were you at each of these three skills (using a number of different sources,
note-taking in your own words and on recording sources accurately)? Explain.
2. Comment on how useful each sources was; what was easy to find and use? What was
difficult? Why?
3. What have been your strengths and weaknesses with this task? Explain.

4. How could you improve in using a number of different sources, note-taking in your own
words and on recording sources accurately in the future?

What does the Youcat say?

It is decreed in the gospel that genetic adjustment is a sin, no matter the reasoning. The youcat expands on
this matter, stating that as God modelled our own body and image after himself, altering the work of god is
illegal and against the catholic teaching. Along with this ruling, another question which may come up might
be whether or not it is against the gospel teachings to use genetic engineering for the better or good of
humanity, answered by q292 of the youcat, it is decreed evidently that even if a sin is committed for good
health it is a sin more or less and is not allowed by the gospel, to further this statement in more of a genetic
modification context, from quote, the youcat states: ..it is just as wrong to use embyros in stem cell research
even if the outcome is medical advancement.. meaning that it is immoral to oblige or support to such an act.
What does the Bible say? Consider both the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospels.
The bible possesses strong intimations of anti-genetic modification, a statement which can be
derived from several quotes;
-

But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For
not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another
for birds, and another for fish. the encrypted meaning behind this article from 1
Corinthians 15:38-39 states that whatever and whichever body that God decrees upon
an individual will be the only one they should possess therefore meaning that any
modification to ones body would be firmly against these statutes.
Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? this
rather short quote from Ecclesiastes 7:13, I feel, has epileptic meaning upon the
question of the Bibles view on genetic transformation; it states that God is an almighty
being wherein all his creations are made particular due to a reason and altering his
correction should be illegal.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God? You are not your own... this quote from 1 Corinthians 6:19 is
detrimental to true understanding of the bibles view on modification of a human
beings body. It states that in fact, defacing your own body would be defacing a temple
as you do not own your own body, in fact God owns it as he has created it.

What do eugenics teach us about genetics?

Eugenics teach us that by regulating those who breed amongst each other and reducing the gene pool to only
desirable genes and characteristics we can forward the evolution of mankind several thousands of years
forward at the cost of freedom and faith. It is a restriction onto freedom as there is not free choice upon who
you can marry and reproduce with, and is a restriction upon faith as it goes against the statutes of the gospel
wherein every man and woman is thought to be equal. Many have tried (and ultimately failed) to implement
a eugenic ideology in their societies, a primary example being the Nazi government who tried to exterminate
the sick and disabled and strived to promote the inheritance of pure genes seen by Germans.
What does the media tell us about genetics? Find a couple of articles from
newspapers and magazines.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/19/the-guardian-view-on-genetics-engineer-but-withethics
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/its-all-in-the-genes-how-your-parents-can-make-you-stay-atschool-longer-20160518-goxo6m.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/books/review/the-gene-by-siddhartha-mukherjee.html?_r=0