The comic · Genetics of Disease (GenD)

Week 3 of 22

SEPTEMBER 2 TO 9

Fiction. No real student, family or grade appears.

Drawing, panel 11: Bioethics debate: isolation vs autonomy.

Isolation against autonomy. Public health can compel, and the argument is about when that is justified rather than whether it is ever allowed.

Panel 11Bioethics debate: isolation vs autonomy · 2026-09-02
Drawing, panel 12: Signs vs symptoms.

A sign is what someone else can observe. A symptom is what only the patient can report. Fever is a sign, nausea is a symptom.

Panel 12Signs vs symptoms · 2026-09-03
Drawing, panel 13: Pathogen categories.

Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and what actually separates them. The practical difference is that an antibiotic works on one of those four and does nothing to the rest.

Panel 13Pathogen categories · 2026-09-04
Drawing, panel 14: Outbreak relationship map.

Mapping who contacted whom, when. Our first map was a spaghetti mess until someone suggested ordering it by date instead of by person. Same data, completely different picture, and a cluster appeared.

CLASSMATE

Order it by date instead of by person. It is the same data.

Panel 14Outbreak relationship map · 2026-09-08
Drawing, panel 15: Outbreak CER submission.

First real CER of the year. Claim, evidence, reasoning. Mine had a reasoning sentence that just restated the claim in new words, which he says is the most common mistake and I have now made it.

Panel 15Outbreak CER submission · 2026-09-09
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