Undergraduate Education

Genome Sciences & Policy Certificate

The sequencing of the human and other genomes has enormously expanded our knowledge of living systems, with great potential for improving human health and exploring the human condition. However, widespread use of genomic information raises complex issues for society in areas as diverse as individual rights, genetic discrimination, the nature of humanity, intellectual property law, the meaning of normal variation, large-scale data storage and analysis, and national health and science policy.

The Genome Sciences & Policy Certificate includes a combination of course work and direct research experience designed to expose students to the genome sciences and their broad societal impacts. This interdisciplinary curriculum addresses the following goals:

To enable students from a broad range of disciplines to acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of the Genome Revolution and its growing impact on their distinct fields; and
To cultivate in students the interdisciplinary perspectives necessary to address current and future implications of genomics for health, science and society.

Students interested in pursuing the certificate must register for the program at the Office of the University Registrar in the Smith Warehouse located at 114 S. Buchanan Boulevard on East Campus. Interested students should contact the IGSP Education Office.

Program Director:
Huntington F. Willard, PhD

Program Administrator:
Jessica Rowland
IGSP Education Office
Duke University
2180 CIEMAS
Box 3382
Durham, NC 27708
P: 919-684-5256
F: 919-668-2465

Curriculum Requirements

The Genome Sciences & Policy Certificate will be available to all students at the undergraduate level. Students will be required to complete the following 5 courses and 2 research experiences. No more than three courses for the certificate may originate in any one department and only two courses can be used to satisfy the requirements for any major, minor, or other certificate.

GENOME core course (GENOME 156/BIO 156 or GENOME 256 when appropriate). Offered spring semester only. May be taken freshman, sophomore, or junior year (freshman or sophomore year preferred). May not be taken senior year.;
Three elective courses with at least one course chosen from the Genome Ethics/Law/Policy elective course list;
Research experiences (at least one of which is credit-bearing) consisting of either two semester-long independent study courses or one semester-long independent study course plus one approved summer research experience;
GENOME capstone course (GENOME 498S) to be taken in the spring of senior year. See past GENOME capstone topics below:
- 2009: Genes, Genomes and Elite Athletic Performance
- 2010: Personal Genomics: Science and Policy
- 2011: Familial Searching of the U.S. Forensic DNA Databank
- 2012: Incorporating genomic technologies into health care; implications of noninvasive fetal genetic testing technologies, direct-to-consumer whole-exome and whole-genome sequence analysis; value of ethical, legal, and social implications research

University Requirements

In addition to majors and minors, Trinity College offers a number of interdisciplinary certificate programs of study. A certificate program is a course of study not available within any single academic unit. If you elect to satisfy the requirements of a certificate program, please bear the following requirements in mind:

All such programs consist of at least six (6) course, including an introductory and a capstone course;
No more than half (50%) of the courses taken to satisfy the certificate requirements may originate in any one department or program;
You may use no more than two courses that are also used to satisfy the requirements of any major, minor, or other certificate program (but individual certificate programs may prohibit such double counting or restrict it to one course); and
At least half the courses taken to satisfy a certificate program must be taken at Duke (but individual programs may require a greater proportion taken at Duke).