The Microbial World - It's a Small World After All or From the "Black Death" to the "Coming Plague."

An integrated, interdisciplinary unit examining the knowledge and progress related to microorganisms, microtechnology, and disease (its treatment and transmission), including a look at the moral and ethical decisions required in these areas. Recent advances in biotechnology have made bioethical decisions not only important to doctors and scientific researchers, but have opened up the debates related to moral and ethical decisions about these issues to everyone. This interdisciplinary/integrated unit is designed to give students a basic understanding of the information in microbiology and molecular biology so that they can make more informed decisions now and in the future. It will also be beneficial for those students interested in a profession in a medical field or in scientific research dealing with microbiology.