Testing the Waters and Your DNA: Things Are Not Always What They Seem!

 

Kathleen Nolan & Jaskiran Mathur

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2015, Volume 36

Abstract

In this experiment, students choose cups of “unknowns”–both tap water (poured into odd-numbered cups) and bottled water (poured into even-numbered cups) from trays. The students then record their names and guesses on index cards, before placing their cups back on the trays. You next tell them, “Now I have your DNA!” You ask them how this makes them feel and why, and if they think that everyone’s DNA should be placed in a database. This leads to discussions about the Fourth Amendment, DNA and abandonment, DNA and privacy, the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act, Direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits, DNA databases, and other topics.

Keywords:  DNA testing, DNA privacy, DNA databases

University of Oregon (2014)