Design critique
Wed, Dec 16, 2026 · Week 17 · Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)
Today's goal: Write a design critique recommending whether an emerging intervention is ready for patients.
What a finished product looks like
This is a model of the work you should turn in today. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your data and wording should be your own.
Claim: Gene-edited pig kidneys are promising but not yet ready for routine patient use.
Evidence 1 (effectiveness): In a monitored study, a gene-edited pig kidney filtered a recipient's blood and produced urine for over 50 days, showing the organ can do real kidney work in a human body.
Evidence 2 (safety): The same trials still rely on heavy immune-suppression, and researchers watch closely for pig viruses (PERVs) that could pass to the patient, which is an unresolved safety risk.
Reasoning: The effectiveness evidence clears the first bar, the organ functions. But 'ready for patients' also means safe at scale, and the rejection and cross-species infection risks are not yet controlled well enough for routine surgery. So the honest verdict is promising, not ready.
Main barrier still to solve: controlling long-term rejection and the risk of animal viruses without immune-suppression so heavy that it endangers the patient.
(Tip: pick 'ready,' 'promising,' or 'not viable' on purpose and make your evidence match the verdict; do not claim 'ready' while your own evidence lists an unsolved risk.)
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Write a claim-evidence-reasoning critique judging whether an emerging intervention is ready for patients, then name the main barrier still in the way.
- Write one defensible claim.
- Choose specific evidence that supports the claim.
- Explain the scientific rule that connects the evidence to the claim.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: turn it in on the class site under today's design-critique assignment.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Design critique. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
WebXam problem for today's skill
One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.
Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.
It builds this reusable test skill: Judging the readiness of an emerging intervention.
- Name the concept or data pattern being tested.
- Cross out choices that violate that rule or the evidence.
- Justify the best remaining choice before checking the answer.