Social Issues in Biology

MICROBI 213 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This reading and discussion course tackles the kinds of questions that increasingly shape careers in academic and industry research, medicine, public health, and science policy, but are often pushed to the margins of technical training. The course has two main goals: (1) to equip future scientists, clinicians, and health‑sector leaders to think critically about the ethical, social, and economic dimensions of biology and medicine, and (2) to provide a forum for open, rigorous, and respectful discussion of difficult topics that students will encounter in real‑world practice. Classes are discussion‑based: students read historical and contemporary work on controversial issues in the life sciences and debate them together, guided by subject‑matter experts.
Topics typically include:

• Racial and socioeconomic considerations in biomedical research, clinical trials, and access to new therapies
• Public trust, misinformation, and societal responses to vaccination and outbreak
• Emerging neurotechnologies and psychedelics in psychiatry: promise, hype, and regulation
• Consumer genetic testing and genome sequencing: personalization, misinterpretation, and ethical pitfalls
• Ethics of animal experimentation, organoids, and increasingly realistic in vitro and in silico models
• The biology of sex, gender variation, and debates about fairness and exclusion in sports and medicine
• AI and big data in health care: bias, surveillance, and the future of clinical decision‑making
• Gene editing, reproductive technologies, and the ethics of “enhancement” versus therapy

By the end of the course, students will:

•  Sharpen skills in critically reading and analyzing scientific and popular texts
• Learn to connect biological and medical research to broader social, historical, and technological context
• Practice articulating and defending positions on complex ethical questions in writing and in live discussion
• Be better prepared to identify and navigate ethical issues in their own research, clinical practice, policy, or leadership roles

Course Notes

Grades will be based on attendance, participation in class discussions, and brief written reflections assigned after each discussion. Required reading materials will be provided one week before each class. Written assignments will be minimal, vary from week to week, and generally will be assigned only in cases of missed classes. There will be no exams.

Recommended Prep

Students from all disciplines are welcome, and no prerequisite courses are required.