SALT - Synthetic biology debate next MONDAY Nov. 17

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:31:24 -0800 Subject: [SALT] Synthetic biology debate next MONDAY Nov. 17

NOTE: This is on MONDAY eve, Nov. 17, not the usual Friday.

Synthetic Biology has advanced much faster and farther than most people realize, reminiscent of what happened when personal computers took off. Amateurs all over the world are programming bacteria and viruses to do strange and wonderful things, or strange and dangerous things, depending on your point of view. Corporations are developing new life forms for purposes that are noble or insidious, depending on your point of view…

“Synthetic Biology Debate” Drew Endy and Jim Thomas, Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco 7pm, MONDAY, November 17.

The debate starts promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is free (a $10 donation is always welcome, not required).

Stanford bioengineer Drew Endy, co-founder of the Biobricks Foundation, is the leading enabler of open-source biotechnology. Greenpeace veteran Jim Thomas, now a research manager at ETC Group in Toronto, wrote “Extreme Genetic Engineering,” a detailed critique of synthetic biology.

Talks coming up:

Dec. 19 (Friday) - Rick Prelinger, “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco” Jan. 16 (Friday) - Saul Griffith, “Climate Change Recalculated” Feb. 13 (Friday) - Dmitri Orlov, “Social Collapse Best Practices” Mar. 20 (Friday) - Daniel Everett, “Endangered Languages, Lost Knowledge and the Future” Apr. 10 (Friday) - Mayor Gavin Newsom, “Cities and Time” May 25 (MONDAY) - Paul Romer, “A Theory of History, with an Application”

NEWS: The Long Now videos now come with SUBTITLES in English and other languages, and you can help. Go to the dotSUB site here to view subtitled SALT talks, or to add your own subtitling. Non-English languages especially welcome.

High-quality videos of the talks and other benefits are available to Long Now members. Membership, which costs $8/month ($96/year), helps support the series and other Long Now projects. Joinable here.