Immunotherapy

This week we will be wrapping up our unit on Mitosis, Meiosis and Cancer.  When I started researching cancer, the amount of articles is a little overwhelming.  So instead, we are going to focus on one treatment of cancer this week...Immunotherapy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/07/11/with-new-genes-and-an-electric-shock-scientists-turn-immune-cells-against-cancer/?utm_term=.76701b45e671

This week you will read the article above from The Washington Post about immunotherapy.  Not only do I want you to summarize the article and understand the premise of immunotherapy, but I also want you to do a little research.  At the end of the post, I would like you to include a link to either a video about a cancer survivor, a video about a cancer treatment or a legit scientific article about cancer.  Believe me there is a lot of material out there, but please make sure to vett your sources.  Paste the link at the end of your paragraph and briefly describe what it is about.

Savior Sibling

On Friday, I had a sick kid at home so you were able to watch some of My Sister's Keeper which is based on the book by Jodi Picoult.  Hopefully you were able to make the connections to last unit with DNA and genetic engineering and this unit where we are going to discuss cancer.  What most people don't realize is that this movie is loosely based on a Colorado family, the Nash's.  The Nash family had a sick daughter and conceived a son for the sole purpose of saving their daughter.  The Savior Sibling has also been the story-line on soap operas, CSI, Heroes, Star Trek, books and movies.  In fact, the savior sibling was even on my Chicago Med show this past week.  I have had students in class that were bone marrow donors for their siblings, but I have never had a student that was a savior sibling.

Here are some articles about the Nash family and the ethics of creating a savior sibling:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2000/oct/04/genetics.internationalnews

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/17-years-later-nash-family-opens-up-about-controversial-decision-to-save-dying-daughter

http://www.amc.edu/bioethicsblog/post.cfm/is-it-ethical-for-parents-to-create-a-savior-sibling

For your assignment this week, you don't actually have to read any of the articles unless you were absent on Friday.  I want to know how far you would go to save your child.  Is it ethical to create a savior sibling?  Should the savior sibling have a say in whether or not they are used to save the older sibling?  If you were a savior sibling would you find a lawyer and sue for the right to be medically emancipated from your parents?  Please provide reasons behind your opinions.  Give examples from either the movie or one of the articles above.  If you can find other research about savior siblings, please share it with me.  You will write one paragraph with at least 5 sentences and comment on one of your peers posts.