2015 RNA Annual Conference

2015 RNA Annual Conference


Pre-Conference: What Does It Mean to be Human? Implications of Genetic Engineering

August 27, 2015

Ever since the human genome was mapped at the turn of this century, ethical concerns have followed. Gene-editing techniques using enzymes to essentially cut and paste select genetic sequences (including the unprecedented efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9 technique) raise new concerns about the unknown consequences of altering a person’s genome, even to treat potentially devastating genetic disorders like Huntington’s Disease, Sickle Cell Anemia and Neurofibromatosis. In this panel, Douglas Lauffenburger, professor, MIT and Ted Peters, professor, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences will introduce the science and grapple with its most pressing implications.

Christine Scheller (Moderator) - Senior Program Associate, Communications, AAAS
Douglas Lauffenburger - Professor, MIT
Ted Peters - Professor, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences