Between the focus groups you've conducted, the presentations you've given, and the debates you participated in you should be ready to complete your final report. The report will be used by the committee in a variety of ways, such as to refresh their memory when they have later discussions, and to have new members read when they join the committee. As I mentioned in the description of the projects you have be working on, your final report needs to address the following:

"Should genetic modifications be allowed? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?"

You'll want to make sure the information you include in your report all stays focused on this question and is not tangential or about a different aspect of genetics. Think about the different areas you've presented on: GM animals, GM crops, and GM muscles, as well as your final presentation. Compare and contrast each of the situations to highlight the key areas and issues involved for each situation, as well as genetic modification generally. Make sure to discuss both the scientific and ethical issues involved in these decisions. You can use information from your other work on the focus groups and debates as well; just make sure you have facts to back them up. Use the outline for the final report I had you put together earlier as a starting point. Although it may need some revisions, part of the reason I had you create it as you worked through the other tasks was to make this task easier for you.

The committee also wants to know how your individual perspective on the topic is similar to and different from the team perspective that was presented. In your report address the issues explicitly; discuss areas where your perspectives were different than your teams. The discussion of perspectives should support your other arguments rather than dominate the report.

You need to back up your viewpoints with research; using citations to let the readers know what material your conclusions are based on. The final report is going to the congressional subcommittee, so make sure your report meets a high standard: logical sequence, reviewed, finalized, and everything else that makes a paper strong.

If you get stuck see if a member of your team has any suggestions. While each of you needs to submit report based on your individual work, you can bounce ideas off one another. Just make sure in the end your report reflects your work and perspective. Send me your final report when you're done.

Thank you for your work on this project!

Dr. Susan Woodrow