By Jessica Dillon
Staff Writer
A St. Bonaventure alumna along with a faculty member recently researched genetically modified organisms, which has led to a new course offering at the university.
Aly Paz, ‘15, who studied biology, and Xiao-Ning Zhang, Ph.D., director of the biochemistry program, began their research after Paz submitted a term paper in Zhang’s bio-elective plant development and physiology class.
The two co-authored a study for a peer-reviewed publication.
“[Paz’s] paper, which investigated public opinion of GMOs, went above and beyond my expectations,” Zhang said. “We decided to turn it into research. There is all kinds of conflicting information online. It’s really hard to say if most people are for or against a GMO without doing a scientific study, so that was the research we decided to conduct.”
Paz and Zhang created an online survey and collected 150 responses.
“We analyzed the data and found it very interesting,” Zhang said. “Most of the participants were younger because we used Twitter and Facebook. Most of them expressed the desire that they want to know more about GMOs and feel like there isn’t a lot of research out there to educate them.”
Zhang, inspired by the responses, created a new course offering, Inquiry in the Natural World: Introduction to Biotechnology and Laboratory, which will be offered for the first time in the spring of 2017.
The class will close the communication gap on GMOs between the general public and scientists. The course aims to increase public awareness on GMOs, how they’re created and how scientists respond to safety concerns.
“I wanted to disseminate some of this scientific information in a way that non-science majors can also understand,” Zhang said. “You see science as science sometimes and that it’s very hard, but I think science is more than just hard science. There are a lot of things related to science that people avoid, and we need to mind this gap.”
Sabrina Basile, a sophomore biology major, agreed the course offering will benefit students of all majors.
“I think having a science class for non-science majors is good,” Basile said. “If you aren’t exposed to science in this setting, you won’t be able to identify things online that may not be true. It’s good that this class exists so that students are exposed.”
The course has not received high levels of engagement yet, Zhang said.
“Unfortunately, not a lot of students have registered for the class,” Zhang said. “I think once the word gets out that this is a course for non-science majors, students will understand, and we’ll see more engagement.”
Students who wish to register for the course can look for the listing CLAR-302 Inquiry in the Natural World Biotechnology in the online registration catalog.
Zhang said she encourages students of all majors to register for the course.
“I hope students can see the layers of science and find layers they can relate to,” Zhang said. “I think that will help students to really engage in the conversation and have a deeper relationship with science topics.”
dillonj15@bonaventure.edu
