A curriculum for environmental genetics education

Introductions: Environmental genetics is a scientific area concerned with interactions between genes and the environment. Progress in this field, coupled with the growth in genetic testing, has great potential for improving human health. There are also ethical, legal, and social concerns surrounding advances in environmental genetics and genetic testing. Because genetic information is rapidly increasing in our society, the public needs to learn more about scientific progress and policy issues in these areas. Objective: To describe a curriculum for the public on environmental genetics and genetic testing. Program: In 1998, the Department of Environmental Health (Center for Environmental Genetics), University of Cincinnati, began an outreach project for the public called Learning Exchange for Genetic and Environmental Disease Solutions (LEGENDS). The project fosters awareness and understanding of environmental genetics and genetic testing with discussion of related policy issues. The curriculum includes brief lectures and discussions based on thematic modules and a set of inter-active exercises to be conducted in small groups. More than 100 persons have attended instructional sessions sponsored by LEGENDS at the time of this writing. Significance: The curriculum appears to be a potentially useful resource for educating the public about environmental genetics, genetic testing, and related policy issues. This project has implications for other organizations working to further genetics education.