What you will study
Six interesting, contemporary scientific topics provide the foundations for this module. In addition, four important themes – science communication, risk, ethical issues and decision making – set the topics in a broader societal context. Overall, science content takes up 75-80%, and the themes 20-25%, of study time.
BSE/vCJD (three weeks). BSE was not only an economic and social tragedy in its own right; it also gave rise to vCJD, an invariably fatal new disease that (so far) has affected mainly young people. Our quest to understand these and other encephalopathy diseases is giving rise to a new branch of biology that deals with shape-changing protein molecules such as prions. At least in the UK and much of Europe, the BSE/vCJD episode seems to have contributed to the public’s apparent mistrust of many new scientific developments, and scepticism about reassurances that these are both beneficial and safe.
Near-Earth Objects and the impact hazard (three weeks). This topic deals with the collision of asteroids and comets with the Earth. In the past, such collisions are known to have had major effects on the development of life on Earth. This topic explores the nature of the hazard and how it is quantified. The high probability that, sooner or later, more collisions will happen in future raises all sorts of difficult issues. Should we attempt to prevent such an impact? Or at least mitigate its effects? If so, how? How much resource ought to be devoted to such an enterprise (resource that could be spent on controlling diseases or ending world hunger)? If a major impact were to be predicted with a high level of probability, should the public be informed? What would be the likely effects of such knowledge?
Water & Well-being: arsenic in Bangladesh (three weeks). The belated realisation that water made available to villages in rural Bangladesh and India was naturally contaminated with dangerous levels of arsenic raises difficult questions about the responsibilities of science and scientists. What can and should be done once such a problem has been recognised?
Climate Change (seven weeks). Many people are convinced that human-induced climate change is the single greatest threat to human society at the present time. Predicted effects include increased sea level, more extreme-weather events, alterations to the distribution of natural biota – including disease-causing organisms – and changes in agricultural productivity. Although there can be little doubt that the climate is changing at the present time, the problem is that climate is an intrinsically variable phenomenon. There are therefore those who do not accept that we are witnessing anything other than natural oscillations caused by (for instance) variation in the Sun’s energy output, and so resist the profound changes to our way of life that would be needed to stop human-induced climate change. In addition to covering the science that underpins climate and its variation, this topic addresses some of the issues that arise when science impinges on the ‘real’ world of politics and economics.
Genetic Manipulation (seven weeks). After millennia of intentionally and accidentally altering the genetic composition of animals and plants by selective breeding, we stand on the brink of being able to introduce any gene from any organism into any other organism – including ourselves. Advocates point to the tremendous potential that such genetic manipulation has for improving agricultural crops and animals, and for curing human diseases. Others question the safety of genetically modified food, the possible ecological consequences of releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment, and the ethics of tampering with the human genome. As well as the science behind such examples of genetic manipulation, this topic also examines recent attempts at public consultation.
Nanotechnology (five weeks). The extremely diverse and rapidly developing field of nanotechnology is emerging as a ‘battlefield’. Lines are drawn between those keen to harness the potential of new materials and techniques, and those concerned about the possible dangers of introducing new science-based technologies on a very wide scale over a comparatively short period of time. This topic covers the underlying science of some aspects of nanotechnology, introduces some likely applications, including those categorised as bio-nanotechnology, and critically discusses these developments in terms of the four module themes.
While each of these scientific topics is interesting and important in its own right, they have also been selected for the light they throw on the four module themes. The module themes are:
These themes are introduced in the Introduction to the course (which precedes the first topic, BSE/vCJD), developed through the succeeding topics and assessed in the three tutor-marked assignments and the end-of-module assessment alongside the module's science content. Effective two-way communication about science and science-related issues between scientists, decision-makers and the public is crucial if society is not only to reap the benefits of science, but also to minimise the chance of repeating some of the mistakes of the past. Since all change entails a degree of risk, it is essential to assess the risks – as well as potential benefits – of proposed scientific developments. Given the pace and likely impact on society of many such developments, we must also think clearly about the ethical dimension of these developments. Finally, scientific developments do not occur without decision making occurring at various levels. While not a module in social science, this module examines critically the mutual interaction between ‘pure’ science and its broader social context.
Since the module deals with issues that do not have clear-cut ‘black-and-white’ answers, it is very important that students engage in debate with other students (and their tutor). While such discussions will naturally occur in face-to-face tutorials, you are expected to participate in one or more computer conferences – putting forward and defending your own views on an issue and giving serious consideration to the views put forward by others.
You will learn
Not only some interesting science and its relevance in modern society, but also how to critically analyse contemporary scientific issues in terms of the module themes of communication, risk, ethical issues and decision making.