Media Invitation - International conference to explore how life sciences are shaping the world
Released: 16 September 2009
If it eradicates inherited diseases, should the swapping of genes between human eggs be allowed? What benefits, if any, will come from newly created life forms or ‘living machines’? And what changes will over the counter genetic testing bring to an already over-burdened National Health Service?
Increasingly, it is advances in the life sciences – as have already led to stem cell treatments, GM organisms and DNA databases - that shape the modern world. This conference will explore the implications for society and our daily lives of both recent and anticipated discoveries.
Given the enormous amount of complex information scientific research now generates, and given that it impacts all of us in different ways, the conference will specifically explore issues around our understanding of these advances in terms of both how we measure them, and the various ways in which we can take meaning from them.
The three day gathering is the annual conference of the Economic and Social ResearchCouncil's Genomics Network, and it brings together social and natural scientists with policy makers and commentators from across the globe. This year it has been organised by the network's Cesagen centre, which is based at the Universities of Cardiff and Lancaster.
Highlights include:
*Sir Martin Evans, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on embryonic stem cells, will address some of the issues raised by using these cells as a source of therapeutic cells for regenerative medicine.
*Welsh rugby union legend, JPR Williams MBE, is giving an after dinner speech. Former orthopaedic surgeon Williams has recently been involved in promoting participation in the Welsh arm of the UK Biobank project, a major medical research initiative aiming to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses.
* Other keynote talks on mitochondrial DNA and inherited diseases; personalised medicine and the reshaping of healthcare; and how the concepts of race and ethnicity are used in genome wide association studies (GWAS).
* Sessions on synthetic biology; non-invasive prenatal testing; public expectations of genomic science; the negotiation of meaning at the science-media interface; translation of genomic research into public health policy and many more...
Contact name:
For further information, contact:
Flo Ticehurst, Cesagen Communications Officer on +44 (0)29 2087 0024, ticehurstf@cf.ac.uk
For interviews with speakers in advance of the conference please contact
Dave Stevens (Tel: 0845 257 5388, email mailto:dave@marella.info)
Note to Editors:
1. 'Mapping the Genomic Era: Measurements and Meanings' City Hall, Cardiff, 7-9 October 2009
2. OUTLINE Conference webpage
3. The ESRC Genomics Network Launched in 2002 to examine the social and economic consequences surrounding the development and use of genomics, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Genomics Network is one of the ESRC's largest social science investments. The Network consists of: Cesagen (Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics) a Cardiff-Lancaster collaboration led by Professor Ruth Chadwick; Egenis (ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society) headed by Professor John Dupré at Exeter; and Innogen (ESRC Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics) - collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the Open University,directed by Professor David Wield; and the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, led by Professor Steve Yearley, Professor of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge at University of Edinburgh. http://www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk
4. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It supports independent, high quality research which impacts on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's planned total expenditure in 2008/09 is £203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk
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