BIOL202

Human Genetics and Health Spring 2017

Writing Assignment #2
Due date: Thursday, April 20, 2017 by 11:59 pm (No excuses!)

The National Cancer Institutes Comprehensive Cancer Information web site is
part of the National Institutes of Health, the source of funding for much of the
research on human health-related topics in the USA. Something on the order of a
third of us will have cancer at some point in our lives. Even if you escape, someone
close to you will have cancer. The good news is that many of us will survive the
encounter, though many will not. Diagnosis and treatment are advancing at a great
rate, and many of these advances are coming from research in molecular biology
and genetics. I strongly encourage you to explore this web site:
http://www.cancer.gov/. It is the best starting place for all kinds of information
about cancer and it has pointers to a multitude of other authoritative sources of
information. You will see that the information is presented in different forms for
different audiences, i.e., the general public and health professionals. By the end of
this course you will have the background to help you make sense of the more
technical material. At the least, youll be in a position to educate yourself to where
you can ask intelligent questions of health professionals when the time comes. Save
yourself the bother of a Google search and start here anytime you have question
about any cancer and its treatment.

Your mission is to pick a cancer, any cancer, and write at least 1,000 words about it.
Specifically, I expect you to do the following:

* Introduce the subject in terms your mother would understand (assuming
shes not a molecular geneticist or oncologist). Tell us about symptoms, age-of-
onset, frequency, risk factors, etc

* The main section of your paper should describe in more detail what exactly
is known about the cancer, and should outline the available treatments. This being a
human genetics class, tell us about what, if anything, is known about the genetic
basis of the particular cancer. You should try to use the more detailed information
presented for health professionals where possible.

* Finally, conclude with some conclusions. Tell about ongoing research,
potential treatments in clinical trials, etc

Obviously, this should all be in your own words (plagiarism is a very serious no-no,
and will be dealt with harshly). Quotations are allowed, but should not amount to
more than two or three sentences in the entire paper, and they must be properly cited.
Your paper must be both on 8.5 x 11 paper; 1-inch margins, double-spaced using a
12-point font (preferably Times New Roman or Arial) electronically submitted in
an assignment folder enabled with Turnitin.com on D2L. Upload either a MS
Word .docx or PDF file to avoid grading delays or resubmission.
BIOL202 Human Genetics and Health Spring 2017

All papers must be less than 40% similar to other sources (determined by the
Turinitin feature- D2L). Late papers will not be accepted.

Help is available! The SIUC Writing Center will help you with this assignment.
Check their web site <write.siuc.edu> for locations and times. They have a copy of
this handout so they can provide specific guidance. You paid for it, use it!




Biology 202 Writing Assignment 2 Rubric (25 points maximum)

Introduction (7.5 points)
Symptoms? (2.5)
Age of onset? (2.5)
How many people are affected? (2.5)

Main Section (10 points)
Talk about the current knowledge on the disease (2.5)
What treatments are available? (2.5)
Is this the result of one or many genes? (2.5)
Is this type of cancer inherited or acquired? (2.5)

Conclusion (7.5 points)
Ongoing research? (2.5)
Potential treatments? (2.5)
Key research groups looking into potential cures? (2.5)

Mechanics and Other

More than 5 spelling and/ or grammatical errors (-2.5 points)
Paper not properly formatted: double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins
(-2.5 points)
Word count less than 1,000 words (-12.5 points)
Word count greater than 1,350 words (-2 points)
Excessive copy and pasting (-12.5 points)
A disease not on the provided website link (-12.5 points)
Plagiarism (-25 points)