Step 1: Innovations in Biology and Technology Previous Next  Instructions Step 1: Innovations in Biology and Technology - Finding Information Sources and Outline (1%)  · Choose one of the provided topics (see list below, a-e).  · Review  Is My Source Credible? from the UMGC library.   · Search the  library and/or the internet to locate 3 reliable information sources that you may use for this assignment. The purpose of this step is to get the research process started; you are not required to use these information sources in the final version of your assignment.   · Write 1-2 sentences for each information source explaining why you believe these sources are reliable using what you learned from the UMGC library article.   · Write references to the 3 information sources in APA format:  https://libguides.umgc.edu/apa-examp.   · Create an outline for the writing assignment. The outline should be in a bullet list format and include the major topics that you plan to include in your assignment, with some supportive detail for each topic. It should  not be a draft with full sentences and paragraphs. Here are two resources that may be helpful as you write your outline:  · · UMGC (2020) Outlining What You Will Write.  https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/online-guide-to-writing/tutorial/chapter2/ch2-11.html · UMGC (2020) Prewriting and Outlining.  https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/getting-started-writing/prewriting-and-outlining.cfm Please review the grading rubric, and ask your professor if you have questions about this assignment.  Topic Choices:   Choose one of these topics for your assignment a) Vaccines. Your friend is worried about the many vaccines that his newborn son is scheduled to receive and asks you for advice since you are taking a biology course. Start with an explanation of how vaccines work. Briefly contrast the traditional methods used to create vaccines with more recently used biotechnology techniques, including the COVID 19 mRNA vaccines. Explain how the mRNA vaccines work based on your knowledge of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. What are some of the diseases that infants and children in the US are routinely vaccinated against? How have vaccinations impacted the frequency of these diseases over the past 100 years? Why are some people worried about giving their children vaccines? Why do some people believe that the MRR vaccine can cause autism? Is there scientific evidence to support these concerns? Conclude with advice to your friend in regard to getting the recommended vaccines based on what you learned from reliable information sources.  b) Personal Genomics.  Services like 23andMe and Ancestry have made it possible – even popular – for the average person to obtain in-depth information about their genome, including de.

1. Step 1: Innovations in Biology and Technology
Previous Next
Instructions
Step 1: Innovations in Biology and Technology - Finding
Information Sources and Outline (1%)
· Choose one of the provided topics (see list below, a-e).
· Review
Is My Source Credible? from the UMGC library.
· Search the
library and/or the internet to locate 3 reliable
information sources that you may use for this assignment. The
purpose of this step is to get the research process started;
you are not required to use these information sources in
the final version of your assignment.
· Write 1-2 sentences for each information source explaining
why you believe these sources are reliable using what
you learned from the UMGC library article.
· Write references to the 3 information sources in APA format:
https://libguides.umgc.edu/apa-examp.
· Create an outline for the writing assignment. The outline
should be in a bullet list format and include the major topics
that you plan to include in your assignment, with some
supportive detail for each topic. It should
not be a draft with full sentences and paragraphs. Here
are two resources that may be helpful as you write your
outline:
·
· UMGC (2020) Outlining What You Will Write.

2. https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-
resources/writing-center/online-guide-to-
writing/tutorial/chapter2/ch2-11.html
· UMGC (2020) Prewriting and Outlining.
https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-
resources/writing-center/writing-resources/getting-started-
writing/prewriting-and-outlining.cfm
Please review the grading rubric, and ask your professor if you
have questions about this assignment.
Topic Choices:
Choose one of these topics for your assignment
a) Vaccines. Your friend is worried about the many vaccines
that his newborn son is scheduled to receive and asks you for
advice since you are taking a biology course. Start with an
explanation of how vaccines work. Briefly contrast the
traditional methods used to create vaccines with more recently
used biotechnology techniques, including the COVID 19 mRNA
vaccines. Explain how the mRNA vaccines work based on your
knowledge of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. What
are some of the diseases that infants and children in the US are
routinely vaccinated against? How have vaccinations impacted
the frequency of these diseases over the past 100 years? Why
are some people worried about giving their children
vaccines? Why do some people believe that the MRR vaccine
can cause autism? Is there scientific evidence to support these
concerns? Conclude with advice to your friend in regard to
getting the recommended vaccines based on what you learned
from reliable information sources.
b) Personal Genomics. Services
like 23andMe and Ancestry have made it possible – even
popular – for the average person to obtain in-depth information
about their genome, including details like food allergies, drug
sensitivities, and disease risks. There are even add-on sites that
will take this information and generate elaborate reports, such
as Promethease. Describe how this data is obtained, and what it

3. actually includes. Start your explanation with a basic
description of DNA and how genes control our traits (the
Central Dogma). Use information from the course readings, at
least one service provider (e.g., 23&Me, Ancestry), and
additional information resources. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this easy, rapid, and affordable access to
genomic data? What are the social implications, in terms of
benefits and risks? Is Genome Privacy (restricting access to an
individual’s private genomic data) a potential issue, and if so,
how? If you, or someone you know, have had your own genome
analyzed, discuss the thought process that led you (or them) to
do so, and share how you felt when you found your results. If
you haven't, discuss why or why you would not want to have
this information.
c) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
(CRISPR) has been the most recent breakthrough discovery in
bioengineering that enables scientists to edit DNA. Because you
have studied biology in this course, you have volunteered at
your niece’s Middle School Science Club to monitor a student
debate about CRISPR. The students will be watching the
following video before the discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=252&v=2pp17E
4E-O8. You need to be prepared in case there are any questions.
Please research and write an answer to each of the following
questions: What is “CRISPR”? What role does Cas9 play in the
CRISPR process? How does the CRISPR-Cas9 system snip and
replace any DNA sequence? What are the potential benefits and
drawbacks of gene editing? Include specific examples. Do you
believe that the inherent risks of modifying DNA are worth the
rewards? Explain. Do you believe that it is ethical to genetically
engineer animals and humans? Explain.
d) Bioprinting. Your father has been on a waitlist for a new
kidney for several years, but no match has been found. You hear

4. about bioprinting on the news and decide to do some research so
you can tell him about it. Start with an explanation of what
bioprinting is, and how the process works. Relate it to what you
have learned about cells, tissues, and organs. What are the
benefits of bioprinting? What are the current challenges? What
are stem cells and how can they be used for bioprinting? What
is bioink and how is it used for bioprinting? Include a least two
examples of current research in this field, and conclude with
predictions for the future. Finally, do you believe that your
father could benefit from this technology in his lifetime?
e) Human-caused global climate change is the biggest
environmental challenge we are faced with today. Your aunt is a
climate skeptic and you have decided to use your understanding
of science to explain to her why the earth’s climate is changing,
describe the major biological effects of climate change, and
discuss how technology can be a solution to this problem. You
should start with a brief description of the greenhouse effect
and how carbon dioxide is a natural part of the carbon cycle.
Then explain how our use of fossil fuels is disrupting the carbon
cycle and enhancing the greenhouse effect. You may want to
look ahead to the Week 7 readings for this information. What
are the major ecological effects associated with climate change?
What are the human health concerns associated with climate
change? Describe at least one example of each. And finally,
what can we do to reduce our impact on the climate through
technological innovation? Include a description of a minimum
of two technological solutions.
Is My Source Credible?
·
Articles

5. ·
OERs (Open Educational Resources)
·
Web Domains in Scholarly Research
·
Truth in the News
Articles
The definition of a credible source can change depending on the
discipline, but in general, for academic writing, a credible
source is one that is unbiased and is backed up with evidence.
When writing a research paper, always use and cite credible
sources. Use this checklist to determine if an article is credible
or not:
·
Is the source in-depth (more than a page or two), with
an abstract, a reference list, and documented research or data?
·
Who is the audience (researchers, professors, students,
general population, professionals in a specific field)?
·
What is the purpose of the source (provide information
or report original research or experiments, to entertain or
persuade the general public, or provide news or information
specific to a trade or industry)?
·
Who are the authors? Are they respected and well-
known in the field? Are they easily identifiable? Have they
written about other similar topics? What are their credentials?
·
Is the source reputable? Is it published on a reputable,
non-biased web site, or in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal,
and not from a newspaper, blog, or wiki?

6. ·
Is the source current for your topic?
·
Is there supporting documentation (graphs, charts,
illustrations or other supporting documentation)?
OERs (Open Educational Resources)
Open educational resources (OERs) are materials that are
licensed for free use, with the purpose of teaching or learning.
Use this checklist to find credible and useful OER's:
· Does the resource have a CC (Creative Commons) license
where the resource can be reused or shared?
· Who is the author and what are his or her credentials? Have
they written other content on this topic? Are they a professor or
expert in the subject they are writing about?
· Is the content non-biased?
Web Domains in Scholarly Research
Where does your source come from?
·
government or military (.gov or .mil) - Government or
military websites end in .gov or .mil, and in general are reliable
sources on the web. However, beware of political sites used to
sway public opinion.
·
university (.edu) - University web sites end in .edu, and
are usually reliable. Use these sites with caution, checking for
credibility and authority.
·
company website (.com) - Company web sites generally
end in .com. These sites are great for information about a
particular company. However be aware that company websites
are used to promote, so be sure the information is non-biased.

7. ·
special interest (.org) - While many professional
organizations end in .org, there are also many .orgs that are
biased and promote a specific agenda.
Video TutorialEvaluating Web Sites (5:16)
Truth in the News
The Center for News Literacy makes the case for being smart
consumers of online news. "The most profound communications
revolution since the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press
seems to make it harder, not easier, to determine the truth. The
digital revolution is characterized by a flood of information and
misinformation that news consumers can access from anywhere
at any time... This superabundance of information has made it
imperative that citizens learn to judge the reliability of news
reports and other sources of information that is passed along
their social networks."
Strategies
Check the facts
There are many fact-checking websites available online. Before
using one of these websites, remember, a good fact checking
service will use neutral wording and will provide unbiased,
authoritative sources to support their claims. Look for the
criteria below when searching for the facts.
Evaluate sources
·
Does the website have an "About Us" section? Does it
disclose a source of funding?
Knowing this information enables you to judge the website's
purpose and viewpoint.
·
Citations and evidence
· Is information cited so that you can track down the source and

8. verify it?
· What evidence is used to prove the author's point? Is the
evidence reliable, and is it used logically?
·
For more tips, see the sections above.
Beware of:
·
Websites that contain the suffix "lo" (e.g., Newslo) or
that end in ".com.co".
These often present false information for satirical or other
purposes.
·
Websites that urge you to dox an individual or
organization
·
Websites that have amateurish design, use ALL CAPS,
and try to play on your emotions
Those are often signs that information is not trustworthy and
that you should research it further via other sources
·
Memes making the rounds on Facebook or other social
media sites
Try googling the topic of a meme or other doubtful story: if it is
a legitimate news story, you'll probably find it covered by an
established source like a major newspaper or TV news channel
·
Clickbait
Sensationalist headlines and odd photos whose purpose is not to
publish legitimate news but to increase traffic at a website
Burst your filter bubble
Web browsers and social media sites employ algorithms that

9. feed you information you've shown a preference for. This so
called "filter bubble" connects us to news that tends to reinforce
our set views, rather than challenging us with new ideas. When
conducting research for class or simply making up your mind on
an issue, try these strategies:
·
Seek credible information from both sides of an issue:
conservative and liberal; religious and atheist; industrialized
and developing nations; etc.
·
Use databases that aren't influenced by your previous
web searches, for example:
·
UMGC Library OneSearch
·
USA.gov
·
data.gov
·
Talk to people who hold views different from
yours. That solution is offered by Eli Pariser, who
wrote a book and
did a Ted talk on filter bubbles.
(Thanks to the following excellent guides on which we've drawn
for part of the above content:
Bristol Community College and
Stark State Digital Library.)
Ask a Librarian
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10. Have a comment?
·
Last Updated: Sep 28, 2022 10:43 PM
·
URL: https://libguides.umgc.edu/credibility
·