Talk: Hacking the Code of Life

Speaker: Dr Nessa Carey, Visiting Professor, Imperial College, London.

Scientists now have unparalleled technology to alter the genome of any organism on the planet using gene editing. We can improve the yields of subsistence crops or wipe out genetic disease in a family. But should there be limits on the applications of this technology, and if so, who should decide what they are? And even if society makes these decisions, will it be able to enforce them?

Dr Nessa Carey is currently a Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London, but worked in industry for 13 years, notably as the International Director for PraxisUnico; she has also been an adviser to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council. She is also a best-selling popular-science author, writing three books successfully communicating complex genetics topics to a general audience.