ES9003: The Genome and Society

This course will provide an introductory level of knowledge in Genomics, human genetics and more focus on their implications and impacts on humans and society. You should take this course, first, if you would like to learn why we study Genomes and Genomics, and why this field has been exponentially grown since the human genome project completed in 2010. Genomics and sequencing technology have driven various fields of science and significantly affected human life. Second, you should take this course if you would like to learn what are the genetic differences between individuals and how it expresses traits, disease symptoms, and responses to pathogens. Besides, you will learn about how Genomics can contribute to the identification and treatment of diseases by analyzing personal genomes.

If you are interested in your future careers in public health, life science, medicine, insurance, risk assessment and big data, this course should be helpful. You will learn how technology of genome sequencing, has affected human social structure or system, for instance, marriage and pregnancy by obtaining person genome information. You will think about your identity by disclosing your genetic ancestry and how it affects society and politics sometimes. You will learn the current trend of that government actively generate population genome data along with medical records from their citizens. This is closely related to developing public health policy, medical facility and system, insurance policy, storing and analyzing of the big data, which all effects economics. Ultimately, the accumulation of genome data will impact your life, especially for your lifetime health.

By the end of the course, you will obtain knowledge and your own value on life technology, which is something you cannot learn from the textbooks. In addition, you should be able to predict how humans will evolve in near future in terms of genetics and society. The human genome will evolve in a unique way, not only under nature's law but also by technology which can change genes or reduce risks. This can be essential knowledge for everyone during this pandemic. The course will also shed a light on Asian populations which have been relatively understudied. You can learn about Asian population genomics directly from scientist who are currently conducting research for Asians.