Below is a small sampling of work from the great undergraduate students in my Honors Human Genetics class at Penn State (Anthropology/ Biology 460H). For extra credit, the assignment is to compose/ create/ perform something artistic (any form of expression!) about human genetics or an aspect of human genetics, while integrating key concepts from our course.

Fall 2015

Vivanne Mazzocco

"Racial and gender discriminations exist in virtually all social contexts. Academia and scientific research are no exceptions. In genomic testing, there is a consistent sampling bias, as the majority of studies are suited to benefit the understanding of European phenotypic traits and medical conditions. This inequity is catalyzed by fewer people of color in leading research positions, socioeconomic restraints and limited access to genetic testing, and prolonging racial favoritism. For my extra credit assignment, I chose to reflect not only how our individual genome works to produce a successful phenotype through the collaboration of many genes and environmental factors, but also the discrimination evident in genomic analysis. In the male and female portraits, their skin, hair, and facial features are constructed by individual gene names responsible for some facial and pigmentation elements. Influential environmental aspects that impact development, such as diet, age, UV exposure, stress, etc., are also included. The black female's portrait is intentionally incomplete to mirror to voids in genetic testing caused by systematic white preference and privilege and the incomplete understanding of ancestry of people of color affected by horrific slave trading. Her environmental influences also include stress factors such as racism, sexism, and oppression."