Honors Biology
Genetic Disorders Research Project
Name ___________________________
Period _____ Date ________________
The genetic disorder that is highlighted below is the disorder that you are assigned. You are welcome to
trade with someone, but no two people are permitted to do the same genetic disorder.
Achondroplasia
Fragile X
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Color Blindness
Galactosemia
Prader-Willi Syndrome
Cri du Chat
Hemophilia
Progeria
Cystic Fibrosis
Huntington's Disease
Sickle Cell Anemia/Trait
Diabetes Mellitus
Klinefelter Syndrome
Tay Sachs
Down's Syndrome
Marfan Syndrome
Triple X Syndrome
Fanconi Anemia
Muscular Dystrophy (Duchenne's)
Turner's Syndrome
Angelman Syndrome
Joubert Syndrome
Barth Syndrome
Canavan disease
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
Jackson-Weiss Syndrome
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Albinism
Langer-Giedion Syndrome
Your research paper will be due on Friday, October 22nd . There will be no exceptions to this! If you need to make
arrangements to stay afterschool or to come during your lunch to type your paper, please do so before Thursday,
October 21st . If your printer “runs out of ink” at 11pm on October 21st , your paper is STILL DUE! It always seems as if
every printer in Henderson runs out of ink the night before something is due. If this happens to you see me as soon as
you get here in the morning so that we can print your paper – or e-mail the file to me at [email protected] so that I
can print it for you. I am also offering to proofread any paper prior to October 20th – you must be prepared to give me
24 hours to read it – I do have a life and can’t drop everything to read a paper when you hand it to me 
Assignment:
Write a research paper about your assigned genetic disorder. The paper must be a minimum of 3 pages and a maximum
of 5 pages (this DOES NOT include the title page and works cited page). Papers should have 1 inch margins, 12 point
font and be double spaced. It is not necessary to include page numbers, but if you would like to, you can.
What to include in your paper:
1. Title page: your name, name of disorder, date paper is due AND 1 paragraph summary of your paper. This
summary is what you will read/present to the class about your disorder. It should hit all major parts of your
paper!
2. Body of the paper should include the following:
a. Describe how the disorder is passed on, or how it originates.
b. Describe how the disorder affects the human body.
c. What types of symptoms does the disorder cause?
d. What is the life expectancy for someone with this disorder?
e. What is the current treatment of this disorder?
f. What group/groups of people are most affected by this disorder?
g. How common is this disorder? How many people does it affect in NC? The US? The world?
h. What is life like for someone with this disorder?
3. Works Cited Page: you need to include ALL sources that you use for your research! Please do not put
www.google.com or www.yahoo.com, etc. as sources – these did not give you your information, they are search
engines that you used to get to information sites – WRITE DOWN THE WEBSITES THAT YOU VISIT! Use the
following format for your sources:
a. Books
Author. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Ex. Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. New York:
Pocket, 1993.
b. Magazines
Author. “Title.”Magazine Date of Publication: Volume.
Ex. Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern Society Using the World of Star
Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar. 1995: A3.
c. Websites
Author. “Title.” Date you looked at website. <http://website>.
Ex. Lynch, Tim. "DSN Trials and Tribble-ations Review." 8 Oct. 1997 <http://
www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/503r.html>.
Citations should be put in alphabetical order by author. If you are missing any part of a citation, skip it, but make every
effort to find it! If you need help – ASK! There are some citation generators on the internet, such as
http://www.palomar.edu/dsps/actc/mla/ - you are permitted to use these.
** It is OK to use quotes from your sources, however, you MUST put them in quotation marks and you must put the
source in parentheses following the quote in the body of the paper!
Plagiarism Contract
Plagiarism can be defined as submitting another person's ideas, words, images or data without giving that person credit
or proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty, is tantamount to stealing and will not be
tolerated. In order to clarify what constitutes plagiarism, you should be aware that you have committed plagiarism when
you:
• use phrases quotes, or ideas not your own;
• paraphrase the work of another even though you may have changed the wording or syntax;
• use facts or data not considered common knowledge;
• submit a paper written for another class (academic dishonesty);
• submit a paper from an essay service or agency even though you may have paid for it (these papers are usually of
low quality, so you probably did not get your money's worth);
• submit a paper by another person even though he or she may have given you permission to use it.
You should also note that plagiarism not only encompasses written work, but also computer data, research, musical
scores, video programs and visual arts.
Plagiarism is a serious issue, especially in an academic environment. Teachers must be able to rely on the integrity of a
student's work in order to maintain a climate of successful learning. Plagiarism reflects on character; therefore, you
should diligently avoid inadvertent plagiarism. When you are unsure if acknowledgement is needed, ask your teacher.
The penalties for blatant plagiarism include loss of all credit for the assignment with no opportunity to rewrite—which,
for weighty assignments such as a thesis, can jeopardize your chances of passing the class. In addition, being a form of
cheating, plagiarism also results in disciplinary action, which may include detention, suspension, and a notice of the
infraction in your permanent student record.
I, __________________________________, am aware of the serious nature of plagiarism and will not intentionally use
or submit someone else's work without acknowledgement. Furthermore, I will not misrepresent someone else's work as
my own.
Signature _________________________________________________ Date __________
I have read this contract and understand the consequences of plagiarism, and will support Southern Vance High School
in maintaining an honest, academic environment.
Parent/Guardian _________________________________________ Date __________