Life on Earth has developed over three billion years of evolution as part of nature and 1G gravity. Our already spacefaring civilization is now moving ever closer to exploring deep space, Mars, etc. A range of hard challenges face us…including the very real question surrounding…is our species really built physiologically to not only simply survive but thrive in deep space? Might biological mechanisms such as gene editing offer humans the capability and protection to make this transition?
Join three leading experts as they discuss the biology including the potential role of genetic engineering (both technically and ethically) in the future of humans in deep space.
PANELISTS:
Dr. George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He leads Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute, where he oversees the directed evolution of molecules, polymers, and whole genomes to create new tools with applications in regenerative medicine and bio-production of chemicals. Dr. Church is widely recognized for his innovative contributions to genomic science and his many pioneering contributions to chemistry and biomedicine. Photo credit: Wyss Institute.
Dr. Christopher Mason is a Professor of Physiology, Biophysics, and Genomics at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction. Dr. Mason has won the NIH’s Transformative R01 Award, the NASA Group Achievement Award, the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance Young Investigator Award, the Hirschl-Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award, the Vallee Scholar Award, the CDC Honor Award for Standardization of Clinical Testing, and the WorldQuant Foundation Scholar Award. He was named as one of the “Brilliant Ten” Scientists by Popular Science, featured as a TEDMED speaker, and called “The Genius of Genetics” by 92Y.
Dr. Ting (C.-ting) Wu is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, where she is also a member of the Wyss Institute, Director of the Consortium for Space Genetics, and Director of the Personal Genetics Education (pgEd.org) Project. Today, she and her co-workers are exploring the role of 3D chromosome organization in genome function and inheritance. In addition, her group innovates technologies for visualizing the genome. With respect to pgEd, she and the pgEd team work to promote public awareness and dialog about genetics and genetic technologies across all communities. pgEd works in classrooms, provides curricula and teacher training, runs Congressional briefings, consults with the film and television industry, and partners with communities of faith. Photo credit: Wyss Institute.
MODERATOR:
Kris Kimel is the Founder of Humanity in Deep Space and Co-founder of SpaceTango. Prior to this he started and led a range of entrepreneurial enterprises and initiatives.
