Biotechnology lecture series features national experts

Nationally recognized experts on biotechnology will be featured as part of a UW–Madison Biotechnology Center lecture series on ethical and social issues in biotechnology, ranging from cloning to engineering crops. Cloning expert Neal First will be the featured lecturer this Friday in the 13-part program that concludes in December.

Biotechnology, increasingly important for Wisconsin’s economy and for UW–Madison, offers great promise during the coming decade for medicine, agriculture, and beyond, says Daniel Wikler, a professor in the Program in Medical Ethics and the Department of Philosophy. But at the same time, biotechnology has raised a number of environmental and social concerns.

The series, which began Sept. 3 with an introductory presentation, will explore those concerns. After this Friday’s lecture by First, presentations will be Thursdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. All lectures will be at the Biotechnology Center Auditorium. The lecturers include experts from UW–Madison and across the nation. There is no charge, and the public is invited. The hosts are Richard Burgess, first director of the UW Biotechnology Program; Tom Zinnen, director of education of the Biotechnology Center; and Wikler.

There is no charge, and public parking is available in Lot 20, 1400 University Ave. (next to the Biotechnology Center).

Here is the lecture schedule:
Sept. 10: Cloning Mammals, Neal First, UW–Madison (Animal Science)
Sept. 17: The BST Controversy: History and Future, Tom Zinnen, UW- Madison (Biotechnology)
Sept. 24: Reproductive Technology, Alta Charo, UW–Madison (Law)
Oct. 1: Forensic Uses of Biotechnology, James Crow, UW–Madison (Genetics)
Oct. 8: Patenting Genes, Animals, and Life Forms, Mark Sagoff (University of Maryland)
Oct. 15: Biotechnology and Moral Imagination, Dale Jamieson (Carleton College)
Oct. 22: Genetic Therapy, Norman Fost, UW–Madison (Pediatrics)
Oct. 29: Agricultural Biotechnology and Crop Improvement: An International Perspective, Robert Goodman, UW–Madison, (Plant Pathology)
Nov. 5: Engineering Crops: An Environmentalist View, Marc Lappe, Center for Ethics & Toxics
Nov. 12: Engineering Crops: An Industry View, Robert Horsch, AgraCetus
Nov. 19: Embryonic Stem Cells, James Thomson, UW–Madison (Primate Center)
Dec. 3: Academic Research and Conflict of Interest, Professor Sheldon Krimsky (Tufts University)
Dec. 10: Who Sets the Research Agenda in Biotechnology? Robert Cook-Deegan (National Academy of Sciences)