Slightly off topic but may be of interest to some of you

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Gilland [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Subject: Health and Genetics at Genes and Society Festival

hope these debates will be of interest to members of the list, best wishes
Tony

Tickets now available (020 7269 9220) for:

The Institute of Ideas GENES AND SOCIETY FESTIVAL
in association with Pfizer

Full festival programme:
www.instituteofideas.com/Events/current/docs/genetics.html

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27, April 2003
BAC (Battersea Arts Centre), Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN

Supported by:  The Wellcome Trust and BAC
Media Sponsor: Discovery Channel

**GENES AND LONGEVITY - how long should we want to live?**

Saturday 26 April - 2.00-3.30 - BAC Gallery
Will genetic advances help us to live longer, in a healthy and active state?
What are the implications for society of us all living longer? Who wants to
live forever?

- Richard Ashcroft, Head of Unit and Leverhulme Senior Lecturer in Medical
Ethics, Imperial College - John Hands novelist, author Darkness at Dawn and 
Brutal Fantasies
- Phil Mullan author The Imaginary Timebomb: Why an Ageing Population is Not
a Social Problem
- David Wynford-Thomas Professor of Pathology and Director of Cancer
Research UK, University of Wales College of Medicine

**SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT EUGENICS?**

Saturday, 26 April - 2.00-3.30 - BAC, Main House
Genetic screening techniques offer the prospect of improving the chances of
women giving birth to children free from debilitating genetic defects. Some
have labelled this development 'eugenics', raising the spectre of the Nazis.
Have we become so preoccupied with perfection that we want to eliminate
those who are merely different? Is it 'eugenics', or do critics who are
concerned about our attitudes towards disability abuse the term? What is
eugenics?

Keynote Address:
- Frank Furedi Professor of Sociology, University of Kent at Canterbury and
author of Paranoid Parenting and Culture of Fear

Respondents:
- Professor Tom Baldwin Department of Philosophy, University of York and
Vice Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
- Rachel Hurst OBE director, Disability Awareness in Action
- Josephine Quintavalle, director, Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE)

**GENETICS: HYPE AND REALITY**

Saturday 26 April  - 11.00-12.30 - BAC, Main House
Since the publication of Crick and Watson's famous DNA paper 50 years ago
scientists have learned to isolate individual genes, identify their
functions and transfer them from one organism to another. In June 2000 a
rough draft of the approximately 30,000 to 35,000 human genes that make up
the human genome was published to much fanfare. Our increasing ability to
understand and manipulate genes could lead to significant benefits. But
genetic engineering has provoked fear as well as excitement.

This opening session at the festival will reflect on what has actually been
achieved to date, the developments on the horizon, and the wider social
implications of this powerful technology.
What's hype, what's reality?

- Dr Michael Fitzpatrick GP, columnist for the Lancet and author of The
Tyranny of Health
- David Goldstein Wolfson Professor of Genetics, University College London,
specialises in the study of human genetic variation, including both the
medical significance and the historical implications, as in his work
featured in the BBC's Blood of the Vikings.

Respondents:
- Geoff Watts presenter of BBC Radio 4's Leading Edge and member of the
Human Genetics Commission
- Alistair Kent director, Genetic Interest Group

GENES AND SOCIETY FESTIVAL

The Institute of Ideas' weekend-long Genes and Society Festival brings
together a host of scientists, writers, social commentators, regulators,
philosophers, artists and campaigners to reflect on and debate the many
implications of genetic discoveries and advances.

Does genetics throw up uniquely new and difficult ethical dilemmas? Can
scientists, industry and government be trusted to employ genetic
technologies to the benefit of all? Have we become too suspicious of those
involved in science? Are there any moral or natural limits to what humans
should attempt to manipulate and control? Are we overreacting to the
unfamiliar? These are only a few of the important and varied questions to be
discussed.

Full festival programme:

www.instituteofideas.com/Events/current/docs/genetics.html

TICKETS: telephone 0207 269 9230/9229/9227/9220 (10am-8pm, Monday-Friday)
Saturday, day pass: £25 (£20 concs)  Sunday, day pass: £20 (£15 concs)
For disabled access telephone 020 7269 9224 in advance.

FESTIVAL DEBATES INCLUDE:

- Genetics: Hype and Reality

- Should we worry about eugenics?
- Genes, Privacy and a Genetic Underclass
- Stem Cells - prospects and barriers

- Intellectual Property and Developing Countries - which way forward?
- GM Crops and the Developing World - who decides? - GM Crops - time to say 
yes?
- Reproductive Cloning - what's wrong with it? - Parental Choice and 
Children's Welfare - is there a conflict?
- Genes and Identity: Genetic inheritance and psychological welfare

- Genetic Headlines - how capable are the media at reporting genetic news?
- Genetic Broadcasting - Science on TV - Genetics and Art - scientific 
inspiration?
- Science in Performance
- Science Comedy: Let's twist again, 50 years of DNA - Sci-Fi Futures - 
popular films and contemporary concerns
- Sci-Fi Futures - literature and contemporary concerns
- Teaching Genetics - facts or ethics? - Sixth form Genetics Debate - GM: 
Frankenstein Food or a Technology to be
Celebrated?
- Genes and Intelligence - what is intelligence?
- In Conversation with Sir Harry Kroto - science education

- Genes and Longevity - how long should we want to live? - Genetics and 
Disability
- Anthraxiety: the threat of biological and chemical terrorism
- Born bad? Genes and violence

FESTIVAL SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

- MICHAEL FITZPATRICK GP, columnist, the Lancet and author of The Tyranny of
Health
- DAVID GOLDSTEIN, Wolfson Professor of Genetics, University College London
- GEOFF WATTS, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Leading Edge
- SIR HARRY KROTO, Nobel Laureate, Professor of Chemistry and founder of the
Vega Science Trust
- FRANK FUREDI, Professor of Sociology and author of Paranoid Parenting and
Culture of Fear
- PROFESSOR TOM BALDWIN, Vice Chair, Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority
- JOSPEHINE QUINTAVALLE, director, Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE)
- LEE M SILVER, Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University and
author of Remaking Eden
- MARK LITTLEWOOD, Director of Campaigns, Liberty
- ALISTAIR KENT, director, Genetic Interest Group
- ROBIN LOVELL-BADGE, Head of Developmental Genetics, MRC National Institute
for Medical Research
- STEPHEN MINGER, Centre for Neuroscience Research, King's College London
- PROFESSOR INGO POTRYKUS, co-inventor of Golden Rice
- GILL SAMUELS CBE, Senior Director Science Policy & Scientific Affairs,
Europe, Pfizer
- JULIAN ORAM, Senior Researcher, New Economics Foundation
- PROFESSOR DIRAN MAKINDE, University of Venda for Science and Technology,
South Africa
- COLIN TUDGE, The Variety of Life and So Shall We Reap (forthcoming)
- PROFESSOR MICHAEL WILSON, Chief Executive, Horticulture Research
International
- HARRY GRIFFIN, Acting Director, Roslin Institute
- PROFESSOR MARTIN RICHARDS, Director of the Centre for Family Research,
University of Cambridge. - DAVID GOLLANCZ, lawyer - FRANK BURNETT, 
director, Cheltenham Science Festival
- MARK HENDERSON, Science Correspondent, The Times - JOHNJOE MCFADDEN, 
Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Surrey
- KEN ARNOLD, Exhibitions Manager, the Wellcome Trust
- TOM MORRIS, artistic director, BAC
- KEN MACLEOD author of The Star Fraction, The Stone Canal and The Cassini
Division
- DEREK BELL, Chief Executive, Association for Science Education
- JOHN WHITE, Professor of Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education