Challenges to biology education from new reproductive technologies

Abstract

Teaching students about human reproduction is becoming increasingly daunting as assisted reproduction technologies challenge scientific, social and legal perceptions of parenthood. Mitochondrial replacement in particular forces us to re-examine established paradigms not only in the context of human reproduction but also with regard to the way in which we teach students about genetic modification, the nature of the eukaryotic cell, and eukaryote evolution.

Keywords:

• Assisted reproduction
• mitochondrial replacement
• parent
• eukaryotic cell
• genetic modification