GE CLST M71A
Biotechnology and Society
Description: (Formerly numbered 71A.) (Same as Society and Genetics M71A.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Course M71A is enforced requisite to M71B, which is enforced requisite to M71CW. Limited to first-year freshmen. Exploration of methods, applications, and implications of biotechnology and of ethical, social, and political implications as well as biological underpinnings. Letter grading.
Units: 6.0
Units: 6.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - I liked Dr. Panofsky. He was one of three professors who taught during the fall quarter, and focused on sociological concepts of biotechnology. His slides were pretty clear and were posted which was helpful for review. The class had two exams which were each worth 20% of the final grade, and the final didn't include topics from before the midterm so it was extremely manageable. The TAs provided study guides that were very similar to the actual tests. 15% of the final grade was based on an essay and a short speech that you present in your discussion session about GMOs, and the rest of the grade was from participation in discussion, lecture attendance, and annotations on the readings. The workload was pretty light, except that before each class you had to read 2-3 articles and write a couple comments (just graded for completion). I definitely recommend this cluster! It was really interesting, not too difficult, and balanced between STEM and humanities topics.
Fall 2025 - I liked Dr. Panofsky. He was one of three professors who taught during the fall quarter, and focused on sociological concepts of biotechnology. His slides were pretty clear and were posted which was helpful for review. The class had two exams which were each worth 20% of the final grade, and the final didn't include topics from before the midterm so it was extremely manageable. The TAs provided study guides that were very similar to the actual tests. 15% of the final grade was based on an essay and a short speech that you present in your discussion session about GMOs, and the rest of the grade was from participation in discussion, lecture attendance, and annotations on the readings. The workload was pretty light, except that before each class you had to read 2-3 articles and write a couple comments (just graded for completion). I definitely recommend this cluster! It was really interesting, not too difficult, and balanced between STEM and humanities topics.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - DONT DO IT Honestly, clusters are only helpful if you really need the GE help, and writing 2 credit, but writing 2 is WAYY easier than this class. 2 weekly reading which average 5 articles that average 20 pages EACH. Then you go to lecture, and the lecture is bar for bar the reading, so you learn nothing new. However, they'll drop like one random thing in their lessons and that is what the tests are on. This class is taught by 3 different professors: Rensel focusing on biology, Panofsky focusing on the like sociology of it, and Scroggins focusing on the economic/business part of it. Rensel and Panofsky's lectures are manageable, but Scroggins will literally talk about nothing all lecture, then somehow the whole final/midterm is about what he taught. On top of there being a final for this class, during discussion you will have to do a speech about a GMO game, and present it in front of everyone. The speech isn't too bad, but then you have a debate, AND a final position paper. ON TOP OF A FINAL. There's just too much work to justify for this class, it doesn't make it worth it. This was the only class I would fall asleep in that's how bad it was. No one I would ask liked this cluster, so I would either recommend just doing the writing 2 and a couple random GE's and it will be the exact same thing, if not way better. This is one of those classes where its supposed to be your "easy" class but then it ends up being your hardest, most time consuming class for no reason. Dont fall into the cluster propaganda, they are not sunshine's and rainbows like everyone makes them out to be, just take the GE's, you'll dread taking this class everyday.
Fall 2025 - DONT DO IT Honestly, clusters are only helpful if you really need the GE help, and writing 2 credit, but writing 2 is WAYY easier than this class. 2 weekly reading which average 5 articles that average 20 pages EACH. Then you go to lecture, and the lecture is bar for bar the reading, so you learn nothing new. However, they'll drop like one random thing in their lessons and that is what the tests are on. This class is taught by 3 different professors: Rensel focusing on biology, Panofsky focusing on the like sociology of it, and Scroggins focusing on the economic/business part of it. Rensel and Panofsky's lectures are manageable, but Scroggins will literally talk about nothing all lecture, then somehow the whole final/midterm is about what he taught. On top of there being a final for this class, during discussion you will have to do a speech about a GMO game, and present it in front of everyone. The speech isn't too bad, but then you have a debate, AND a final position paper. ON TOP OF A FINAL. There's just too much work to justify for this class, it doesn't make it worth it. This was the only class I would fall asleep in that's how bad it was. No one I would ask liked this cluster, so I would either recommend just doing the writing 2 and a couple random GE's and it will be the exact same thing, if not way better. This is one of those classes where its supposed to be your "easy" class but then it ends up being your hardest, most time consuming class for no reason. Dont fall into the cluster propaganda, they are not sunshine's and rainbows like everyone makes them out to be, just take the GE's, you'll dread taking this class everyday.
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