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Part 2: SLIDESHOW (20-25 minutes)
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Part 2: SLIDESHOW (20-25 minutes)
The slideshow is located on the pgEd website along with this lesson, and accompanying explanatory notes for the slideshow are provided below.
Slide 2
The scenario for this “Do Now” activity will help students begin to consider the topics covered in the lesson. This “Do Now” exercise is based on the “devious defecator” case, which is outlined in slide 3. Detailed notes on the “Do Now” are on page 6.
Slide 3
A recent court case highlighted how the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA) protects employees from genetic testing in the work environment. Someone had been repeatedly defecating in a grocery warehouse in Atlanta. The manager suspected it was Dennis Reynolds and Jack Lowe, two Black men, who worked for the company. As the employer, the manager asked that they submit a DNA sample to test if they were in fact the “devious defecators”, a nickname coined in the media to describe this case. Reynolds and Lowe, afraid of losing their jobs, agreed to a DNA test. The results indicated that they were not the perpetrators. However, it was illegal for the manager to ask for a DNA sample, because the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) forbids employers from asking for DNA from their employees. The men sued their employer and won $2. 25 million dollars in damages to be shared between them. This was the first case that went to trial under GINA (other cases were previously settled without a trial). It shows how the law protects employees from employers seeking genetic information to make a decision to fire employees. For more information on this case please see “‘Devious Defecator’ Case Tests Genetics Law” by Gina Kolata, May 2015, The New York Times.
Slide 4
GINA is a federal law that prohibits employers and health insurance providers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. Signed into law in 2008, GINA has two main provisions. First, it forbids employers to use genetic information to make hiring, firing and promotion decisions. Second, GINA forbids group and individual health insurers from using genetic information to adjust premiums, add or drop people from policies, or deny coverage. GINA has limits - it only covers people who work at an organization with more than 15 employees. Furthermore, GINA does not apply to people in the U. S military or veterans, and also does not apply to those who get health care from the Indian Health Services - as they receive protections from other federal agencies. Lastly, GINA does not apply to disability, long term care or life insurance. For more information on GINA, please check out our lesson plan “Genetics, jobs, and your rights”.
Slide 5
This presentation consists of 3 parts: ‘DNA databases’, ‘uses of DNA as a forensic tool’, and ‘limitations’. The first part of this lesson explores the DNA databases that are used to aid criminal investigation, how these databases of genetic information are created, and how their composition has changed over time. In the second part of the lesson plan, the focus shifts to the ways in which DNA can be used as a forensic tool to: (i) identify suspects; (ii) identify victims and missing persons; and (iii) provide evidence to support exonerations. The third and final part of the presentation acts to ensure students grasp that, although DNA is a powerful tool in forensic investigations, there are a number of limitations and controversies surrounding its use, from both technical and societal perspectives.
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Slide 6
Criminal DNA databases are generally broken into two parts: DNA from offenders and DNA collected at crime scenes. A forensic database stores DNA profiles from samples collected at crime scenes, and an offender database stores DNA profiles from people who have been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime. The two databases are compared to one another in an effort to match offender DNA with DNA collected from crime scenes. The Nature Education article “Forensics, DNA Fingerprinting, and CODIS” provides a scientific overview of how DNA profiles are generated.
Slide 7
U. S. criminal DNA databases are overseen by various branches of government. In the United States, each state maintains its own database and may share information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) database, known as the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). There are also international law enforcement databases, such as Interpol. Updated federal statistics as well as breakdowns by state are available on the FBI’s CODIS statistics website. According to this website, “as of April 2019, CODIS has produced over 464, 308 hits assisting in more than 453, 512 investigations. ” CODIS now includes profiles of “arrestees, ” meaning, people who have been arrested but not necessarily charged or convicted. As of 2018, 31 states and Puerto Rico have statutes allowing for DNA collection from certain arrestees (see Slide 10 and 11 for further details).
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