Year 11 - Science
Genetic testing for family planning
Gene technology
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit covers the human genome's importance and genetic engineering, outlining steps, benefits, and risks. It explores gene technology in agriculture and medicine, focusing on ethical considerations, and societal impacts, and evaluating scientific limitations and risks.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain how genetic testing can be used in family planning, and discuss the difficult decisions parents may have to make.
Key Notes
- Some alleles are associated with conditions that affect people's health (e.g. cystic fibrosis).
- Prospective parents can be tested for these alleles, as can embryos (embryo screening).
- A fetus can be tested for these alleles (e.g. by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis).
- Tests can have false negative or false positive results, and risks of miscarriage or infection.
- Parents must be supported to interpret test results, consider ethical questions and make difficult personal decisions.
Vocabulary To Learn
- allele: different version of a gene, which can produce a different characteristic in the organism's phenotype
- genetic testing: processes that look for the presence of particular alleles in the DNA of an organism's genome
- carrier: a person with one copy of a recessive allele (they won't show the characteristic but can pass the allele to their offspring)
- probability: the likelihood that something will happen, which can be calculated as a decimal number between 0 and 1
- ethical question: a question about whether something is right or wrong
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Thinking that abortion is the only option following a positive genetic test result during pregnancy.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
Some alleles are associated with conditions that affect people's health (e.g. cystic fibrosis). Prospective parents can be tested for these alleles, as can embryos (embryo screening).
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'allele'
different version of a gene, which can produce a different characteristic in the organism's phenotype. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Thinking that abortion is the only option following a positive genetic test result during pregnancy. Correction: The lesson explores the various options and support that are available to parents who have a high probability of passing on alleles that can affect their child's health.
More Lessons In This Unit
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