Event: “Building a New Biology,” Silverstein Lecture Series, Northwestern University

October 20, 2008

Lecture by Drew Indy, Stanford University

Imagine generating a living thing of your own design, to your own specifications. Recently, researchers have developed powerful new technologies that allow life to be built from scratch. New, engineered organisms are being constructed to help cure cancer, produce renewable energy, and assemble living computers. Teenagers can now learn to program DNA just as they learn to program computers. But who will control these new biotechnologies? What good and bad possibilities seem likely to come true? 

Endy will discuss the science behind this new biology and the many factors that must be considered as research progresses, from practical issues like patents and copyrights, to the weighty implications of essentially creating life.

This lecture will be presented at two events sponsored by the Silverstein Lecture Series, Center for Genetic Medicine (CGM), Northwestern University:

Monday, October 27; 7 pm

• The McCormick Tribune Center
• Northwestern University
• 1870 Campus Drive
• Evanston, IL 

Tuesday, October 28; 7 pm

Both events are FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. No tickets are required. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis. A light reception will begin at 6:30, followed by Dr. Endy’s lecture at 7:00.

Drew Endy is an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. He serves as president of the BioBricks Foundation, a not-for-profit organization promoting open access to biological technologies, and has cofounded two biotechnology companies. Esquire magazine recently named Drew one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. Drew earned degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Lehigh, gained his doctorate in biochemical engineering from Dartmouth, and carried out postdoctoral research at University of Texas and University of Wisconsin. (Northwestern University)