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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Biotechnology, Bioethics and Society (LAWS11372)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis module considers the ethics of biotechnology and the life sciences. It begins by giving the student an ethics toolbox with which to approach, analyse and assess current bioethical controversies and discourses. It then addresses specific topics to further explore ethical issues arising from biotechnology and its uses, as well as an exercise to explore crucial ethical concepts and arguments. Finally, in an age of moral pluralism, it can be difficult for stakeholders to secure social consensus on how new biotechnologies should be controlled and exploited. As a result, the regulation of biotechnology has often been a site of sharp disagreement. This module will also examine how the bioethical discussion feeds into the regulatory and governance considerations of biotechnology.
Course description Session 1- Biotechnology and critical bioethics: a toolbox for ethical and normative analysis and discussion.
Session 2- Assisted reproductive technologies: reproductive freedoms and procreative imperatives
Session 3: The embryo in research: stem cell technologies and gene editing.
Session 4: Neuroethics: interventions in the brain, peripheral nervous system and brain-machine interfaces
Session 5: Genomics I: smart pharmacology and customized therapeutics.
Session 6: Genomics II: non-therapeutics uses of genomics, population research and big data.
Session 7: Fitness-tracking devices
Session 8: E-health and social networks: uses health and public health emergencies
Session 9: GM food: controversies and global food ethics
Session 10: Synthetic Biology: biohacking, biosafety and biosecurity.

Students will develop their skills and abilities in:

1. Research and enquiry, through e.g. selecting and deploying appropriate research techniques;
2. Personal and intellectual autonomy, e.g. developing the ability to independently assess the relevance and importance of primary and secondary sources;
3. Communication, e.g. skills in summarising and communicating information and ideas effectively in written form;
4. Personal effectiveness, e.g. working constructively as a member of an online community;
5. Students will also develop their technical/practical skills, throughout the module, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of another's arguments.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 156 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One essay of up to 4,000 words (60%); one piece of assessed work (20%); contribution to online discussions (20%). «br /»
Requirements for all module assessments will be outlined to students within the individual modules at the start of each semester.«br /»
Feedback Students will receive formative feedback on their discussions participation mid-way through the module. In addition, they will submit a summative coursework assessment in the course of the module, and should receive feedback on that prior to the 60% essay submission, the deadline for which will fall a number of weeks after the end of the module.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Appreciate the range of competing considerations and interests at play in the ethics and regulation of biotechnology and the life sciences;
  2. Formulate well-reasoned and coherent arguments relating to biotechnology and bioethics;
  3. Show a solid understanding of current bioethical debates, concepts and arguments relating to bioethics, as well as their normative and regulatory implications where applicable.
Reading List
A list of key module readings will be available in advance of the module. Detailed reading lists are then available each week.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Students will develop their skills and abilities in:

1. Research and enquiry, through e.g. selecting and deploying appropriate research techniques;
2. Personal and intellectual autonomy, e.g. developing the ability to independently assess the relevance and importance of primary and secondary sources;
3. Communication, e.g. skills in summarising and communicating information and ideas effectively in written form;
4. Personal effectiveness, e.g. working constructively as a member of an online community;
5. Students will also develop their technical/practical skills, throughout the module, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of another's arguments.
Special Arrangements This course is taught by distance learning.
Additional Class Delivery Information This course is taught by distance learning.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMs Emily Postan
Tel:
Email: E.Postan@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk
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