Unnatural Selection: A SXSW-Adjacent Event
Mon, Mar 16
|Christ Church
Technology is rapidly giving scientists increased powers to change human life all the way down at the genetic level, from gene editing (CRISPR) to gestational surrogacy. The scientific boundaries are moving quickly, but what about the moral boundaries?
Time & Location
Mar 16, 2020, 6:30 PM
Christ Church, 112 Medina St, Austin, TX 78702, USA
About The Event
In a South by Southwest adjacent event and in partnership with Christ Church of Austin, please join us for a discussion with two of the world's foremost experts on CRISPR and surrogacy on what's possible and where it might be taking us.
William B. Hurlbut, MD, is Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scholar in Neurobiology at the Stanford Medical School. After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford University, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris. His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology with the philosophy of biology. In addition to teaching at Stanford, he has also worked with NASA on projects in astrobiology and was a member of the Chemical and Biological Warfare Working group at the Center for International Security and Cooperation. From 2002-2009 Dr. Hurlbut served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. He is the author of numerous publications on science and ethics.
Jennifer Lahl is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has twice addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.
