2009 Arthur Miller Lecture on Science and Ethics
Reflections on the Shifting Political & Cultural Status of Human Molecular Genetics Troy Duster Silver Professor of Sociology New York University Abstract In the short space of four decades, human genetics has catapulted from the "poor relative" of the genetic sciences to a vanguard position in both public consciousness and funding status. Part of this is explained by the revolution in molecular genetics brought about by both the reality and the hyperbole of the mapping and sequencing of the human genome. Part of this is explained by the unrealistic hopes of both producers and consumers for a "genetic fix" to complex human problems - from diseases to behaviors to attributes. From ancestry tracing to crime scene investigation, from direct-to-consumer diagnostics to proposals for long-term gene-environment research, we have witnessed a dramatic shift in both the political and cultural status of human genetics. In the coming decade, we will see a clear fleshing out of these trends - nowhere more clearly than in the idea of race. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 4:00 pm MIT Bartos Theater Building E15-070 20 Ames Street, lower level For more information 617 253-4062 http://mit.edu/sts/news/special.html ** Bianca Singletary Assistant to Professor David Mindell, Director of STS Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Science, Technology, and Society Phone: 617 253-3452 Fax: 617 253-8118 web.mit.edu/sts/ ** Bianca Singletary Assistant to Professor David Mindell, Director of STS Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Science, Technology, and Society Phone: 617 253-3452 Fax: 617 253-8118 web.mit.edu/sts/
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