- Global Citizens Assembly
CRISPR Symposium at University of California, Berkeley
Last weekend key Global Citizens' Assembly team members Dianne Nicol and Sonya Pemberton were invited to speak at the University of California, Berkeley’s CRISPR Consensus hosted by the Innovative Genomics Institute.
CRISPR Consensus? hosted by the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California in Berkeley was a public debate about the future of genome editing in human reproduction. Key Global Citizens' Assembly team members Dianne Nicol and Sonya Pemberton both travelled from Australia to speak at the event.
"The Symposium brought together an incredible range of international experts; from those who explore genome editing in relation to faith, morality, diversity and disability, to those who study public engagement via Twitter, town hall meetings and a wide range of media. Many nuanced conversations about CRISPR and the importance of genuine public engagement ensued. One provocative question stands out for me,
“What will happen if we do NOT engage the public?"
Sonya Pemberton
The CRISPR Consensus? symposium sought to explore the challenges—and possible paths forward—for public participation in charting the future of heritable genome editing by convening a dynamic conversation among members of the public, and a diverse group of experts from around the world.
Joining Dianne and Sonya were bioethicists, religious leaders, patient advocates, disability advocates, scientists, from around the world to discuss the future of genome editing. Find a full list of speakers here.
The Symposium was fantastic – it created an opportunity to discuss how to achieve best practice public engagement relating to CRISPR with a group of people with like interests but from a huge range of disciplinary backgrounds and geographical locations.'
Dianne Nicol
Speaking as part of the session ‘Bringing in the Public: Platforms and Pathways for Public Engagement and Debate’ Sonya presented the Global Citizens’ Assembly and corresponding television documentary series ‘Mutant’ as a unique way of creating a public conversation on genome editing technology. Dianne spoke at the last session of the symposium ‘Lessons Learned and Potential Paths Forward’. Dianne spoke on the ethical and social implications of gene and other technologies and how these can be reflected in our legal and regulatory environment around these technologies.'
You can watch the recorded live stream of the Symposium here.
