Welcome to the home of Human Genetics, Biology 106, at St. Ambrose.  Human Genetics is a general education course intended for non-Biology majors and assumes no prior knowledge of Genetics.  The course is offered each spring semester. 

Arriving at answers to questions about whom we are occupies much of our life. Such answers are constructed out of all types of experiences, both with others and with the non-human world. Biology offers one line of assistance in understanding ourselves and others by providing rational explanations for our biological selves. In particular, the subdiscipline of Genetics, and most specifically that of Human Genetics, provides a means for understanding not only how we are constructed normally but how deviations from biological normality arise. Additionally, it provides us with an understanding of how life's continuity is maintained. In doing that, it offers us some predictive ability as we ponder the possible outcomes (and potential risks) associated with particular reproductive acts. My broadest goal for this course is that through your success in mastering the concepts and knowledge of human genetics, you will come to better understand at least one aspect of yourself. Hopefully, you will also acquire a tool that you can apply in your own life's decision-making processes.

Besides offering a deeper understanding of self, the study of genetics possesses enormous social significance. Our knowledge and technical abilities are expanding in this branch of Biology far faster than any other. The Human Genome Project, which has the complete deciphering of the entire genetic composition of humans as its goal, is now more than a decade old. Scenarios that were once only dreamed of in science fiction are already reality (compare the themes of Huxley's Brave New World with recent advances in in vitro fertilization, cloning and embryonic screening). As has frequently been the case historically, scientific and technological developments have preceded society's ability to consider and in some cases even identify ethical questions raised by new technical possibilities. A second broad goal of this course is to raise your level of "scientific literacy" in this important area of Biology so that you can make informed decisions as a citizen.

Finally, as a scientist, I hope that your experience with the methodology of science as exposed in our discussions of the development of genetic knowledge will help you better come to understand how scientists think. Ideally, you'll improve your own ability to think and act as a scientist so that you'll be able to apply such thinking in your own life when appropriate.