DD3000 DESIGN FUTURES #2: Project Plan

Third and final project plan. This is the last one, I promise. After this, I'm going to start actually posting some work on this thing.
I'm sure you all remember the list of topics from my last Design future post. Well, initially I wanted to choose Google Glass, as i thought it would be a really interesting subject to look at. Unfortunately, Joe advised against it, explaining that it would conflict with some of his lectures and that it was too close to games technology. Taking his advice on board, I eventually settled on Dolly the Sheep, leading to the following plan:

Project Aims

This DD3000 Design Futures Project will focus on the 10^th anniversary of the death of Dolly the Sheep, the world’s first mammal born through cloning. Using this as a basis, a collection of research work relating to the different influences of cloning and other related topics will be compiled and shall in turn be used to write a report discussing and critically analyzing the impact of Dolly’s existence. This report will also speculate over a potential future scenario related to this topic.

Intended Actions

Research:

• The research for this project will be focused primarily focused on two separate tangents; namely the impact it had on the scientific community and the numerous questions of philosophy that arose in Dolly’s wake.
• The scientific research will concentrate on the actual cloning procedure used to create Dolly and the potential benefits that could be achieved through this process. It will also feature similar fields of scientific investigation, such as stem cell research and genetically modified crops. Any books, films or other media that have used cloning as a major theme will also be considered.
• Meanwhile, the philosophical research will focus on the moral debates and controversies relating to cloning and similar scientific fields. In particular, it will look into the recent argument regarding stem cell research, as well as questions such as whether a clone has the same rights as the original. This research will also consider any books, films or other media that feature similar debates.
• Other tangents of research will also be explored, such as the technological, religious, political and cultural impact of both Dolly and similar breakthroughs.

Report:

• The report itself will be presented as a 3000 word magazine article. This editorial piece will examine the various facts and findings uncovered from the research and use it to answer the question ‘Should humanity play God by delving into cloning and other fields of genetic engineering research?’

Outcomes

By the end of this project, the following will have been achieved:-

• A 3000 word magazine article discussing the influence of Dolly the Sheep and cloning, as well as speculating over a future scenario
• A detailed and comprehensive collection of research work relating to the chosen topic area
• A detailed research blog containing all research findings and progress throughout the year

Schedule

General working days for this module: Tuesdays and Saturdays

Week 1	Intro to module/ Project Plan
Week 2	Project Plan
Week 3	Project Plan Hand-in/ Researching Dolly the Sheep and Cloning
Week 4	Researching Dolly the Sheep and Cloning/ Researching Scientific Impact (Genetic Engineering, Stem Cells, GM crops etc.)
Week 5	Researching Scientific Impact (Potential uses of cloning & genetic engineering)/  Researching Philosophical Impact (Ethics, Stem Cell Debate)
Week 6	Researching Scientific Impact (Examples in other media) / Researching Philosophical Impact (Religious views)
Week 7	Begin Writing Report/ Researching Philosophical Impact (Examples in other media)
Week 8	Writing Report/ First Draft Hand-In/ Additional Research (Technological, Political, Cultural)
Week 9	Writing report/ Additional Research (Technological, Political, Cultural)
Week 10	Writing report/ Additional Research (Technological, Political, Cultural)
Week 11	Writing report/ Second draft Hand-In
Week 12	Report Final Hand-In

Now, let's start posting some work!