Popularization and setting human genome analysis guidelines for education.

Abstract

It is thought that the experiments on human genome/gene analysis with PCR, elecrophoresis and so on, for educational purposes using studentsʼ own genome in schools are good for attracting their interests, studying about the essence of human genome, and thinking about the concerned problem themselves.　But these kinds of experiments need expensive reagents and instruments, the teachersʼ deep knowledge and experience of molecular biology experiments.　So it is not easy to become popular in schools.　On the other hand, there are many teachers who want to do these experiments but feel uneasy about bioethics and the control of personal genetic information because there are no guidelines of the human genome/gene analysis for education.　To make a suitable environment where teachers can do the experiments more easily, we investigated what was needed to it.　We concluded that setting guidelines similar to DNA transformation experiments is needed for education.　Therefore, we propose human genome/gene analysis guidelines for education, especially at high school, with consideration of bioethical issues, social issues, including control of genomic information, and experimental consideration for teachers.