The Nature of Nature - What Happens When We Start Engineering the Wild?
Join us for the 9th talk of Yale Quantum Institute series of nontechnical talks aiming to bring a new regard to quantum physics and STEM by having experts cast new light on often-overlooked aspects of scientific work. For this event, we will investigate nature and bio-engineering with award-winning science writer Rowan Jacobsen.
Until recently, most genetic engineering has been limited to domesticated species like crop plants, livestock, and lab animals. But Crispr and other next-generation editing techniques have made it much easier to alter the genomes of more exotic species, and even to have targeted impacts on entire ecosystems. Using cases he has explored in depth—including the transgenic chestnut, the gene-drive mosquito, and the de-extinction of lost flower species, Rowan explores the ethics and implications of this new power humanity is about to exert on the natural world.
Talk open to all and will be accessible to students, researchers, the wider university public and the New Haven Community. This event is co-sponsored by The Franke Program in Science and the Humanities