lecture 8- ethics and eugenics

Question 1

what is indigenous knowledge

Answer 1

• Indigenous knowledge: local and indigenous refers to the understandings, skills, and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings
  ○ Local knowledge informs decision making and fundamental aspects of day to day life

Question 2

how are indigenous knowledge and western knowledge different? how are they the same

Answer 2

often distinct in motivation and approach but share conceptual foundations and can support productive + mutually beneficial collaborations

Question 3

what did the eugenics logo show about its connection to population genetics?

Answer 3

• Showed it as interdisciplinary - all of these connect to population genetics but at the time it was eugenics - mainly the same field just taken to a bad extreme
  
  • Connected to study of populations - but to “improve” the human race
  • Cannot say that all of them pushed for bettering the human race - some individuals pulled out once they found more information that disproved eugenics

Question 4

what role did thomas hunt morgan play in eugenics

Answer 4

• Did not like the idea of eugenics
  
  • Worked with fruit flies - short reproduction time etc - but he found some traits could not be explained simply
  • Realized that if it didn’t apply to flies it could not apply to humans - he withdrew from the movement + eugenics records office
    But, his withdrawal was quiet

Question 5

what role did RA fisher play in eugenics?

Answer 5

• Was supportive of eugenics and had more sympathy for nazis than his colleagues
  
  • Contributed a lot - introduced lots of mathematical equations to the field
  • Many organizations are now trying to avoid discussing/focusing on fisher due to his views
    Believed social conditions were due to inherited abilities/traits

Question 6

what role did JBS haldane play in eugenics

Answer 6

• Wrote heredity and politics” in 1938 in response to nazis and american eugenics
  ○ “I do not believe that our present knowledge of human heredity justifies such steps”
  
  • Founder of pop genetics, was not in favor of eugenics after further exploration + seeing the policies implemented
  • Even currently, we don’t 100% understand human heredity

Question 7

how long did alberta have eugenic legislation

Answer 7

• ○ Website that details eugenics in canada + alberta 
  ○ In 1928, the province of alberta introduced the sexual sterilization act, which promoted sterilizing the "feeble minded" or those with mental "defectiveness" Continued into the 1970s

Question 8

how are pop genetics and eugenics connected

Answer 8

population genetics has the same root as eugenics

Question 9

how is informed consent an issue in pop genetics?

Answer 9

Informed consent - might get it from one individual but do you ask the whole population
studying an individual to represent a population can have ethical issues

Question 10

ex of ethical issues w consent

Answer 10

○ The people of the blue-green water - indigenous to arizona
○ Studied genetically - blood samples connected from some people but need to apply the knowledge to the whole pop
- DNA samples reused for different research than what it was originally used for + what was consented to

Question 11

why do we need a pangenome?

Answer 11

○ Cannot compare the info to Europeans
○ Genomes of diff. populations need to be done - cannot assume that everyone will have the traits seen in one population
○ Human genome is 99.9% shared but 0.01% varies - one genome cannot represent every population
○ Human genome reference program - pangenome - genome reference that is unified and can represent the entire species much better
○ pan genome project is trying to figure out what is going on with the human genome without bias

Question 12

define pangenome

Answer 12

○ Human genome reference program - pangenome - genome reference that is unified and can represent the entire species much better

Question 13

how is conservation tied to pop genetics?

Answer 13

Lots of research done to understand genetic diversity within populations + genetic rescue

Question 14

define genetic rescue

Answer 14

• Genetic rescue = trying to eliminate certain diseases impacting threatened animals + work on mating
  *

Question 15

what is genetic rescue affect size

Answer 15

• Genetic rescue affect size = ratio of mean fitness for the outcrossed popu. / mean fitness for the inbred pop
  ○ To find if they outcross or inbreed - if either would help eliminate diseases

Question 16

ethical concerns with studying impact of culture on genes?

Answer 16

• • How does culture impact genetic variation and habits
  • Examining blood samples for research - Ie diseases or population genetics
  • The samples get reused for different types of studies - loss of informed consent among the population
  • Samples should be destroyed for ethical reasons
  • • new samples from new generations might show changes in the pop
      New work is being done with an effort to be unbiased