Conversations on Science, Society and the Future of Gene Editing

June 4-5, 2018 / Boston, MA

Event Recap

ABOUT THE EVENT

The scientific community has handed the world an incredible tool: the ability to make precise edits to the DNA in living cells. These technologies could allow us to transform our food, health and ecological systems. They also raise important questions about risks, benefits, ethics, equity and more.

CRISPRcon: Conversations on Science, Society and the Future of Gene Editing returned June 4-5, 2018 in Boston, MA to advance broad dialogue on whether and how gene editing technologies should make the transition from the lab into society at large. CRISPRcon was hosted by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. CRISPRcon is a program of Keystone Policy Center. This event was developed in partnership with the Personal Genetics Education Project of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School (pgEd) and the CRISPRcon Steering Committee.

To view information from CRISPRcon 2017 in Berkeley, CA, click here.

AGENDA

This year’s program included a dynamic lineup of panels, keynotes, interactive breakout discussions and networking opportunities that considered gene editing across a variety of applications, disciplines, geographies, communities and cultures.

You can read a brief summary of CRISPRcon 2018 here.

  • Coffee and Registration

  • Welcome and Introductions

    Robert Desimone
    McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT

    Robert Desimone

    McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT

    Robert Desimone is director of the McGovern Institute and the Doris and Don Berkey Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Prior to joining the McGovern Institute in 2004, he was director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Mental Health, the largest mental health research center in the world. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of numerous awards, including the Troland Prize of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Golden Brain Award of the Minerva Foundation.

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members and Organizers

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members and Organizers

  • Jonathan Levy
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

    Jonathan Levy

    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

    Jonathan Levy is a postdoctoral scholar in David Liu’s lab at the Broad institute. He completed his PhD in Neuroscience at UC-San Francisco. In David’s lab, he is developing tools to deliver genome editing reagents into live animals.

    Mandana Arbab
    Broad Institute

    Mandana Arbab

    Broad Institute

    Mandana Arbab is a postdoctoral scholar at the Broad institute in the David Liu lab. She completed her PhD in Regenerative Medicine at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Her research focuses on characterizing function and specificity of CRISPR and Base Editing technologies and application of gene editing tools to treat genetic disease.

  • What’s at Stake? Diverse perspectives on the promise and perils of gene editing What’s at stake in society when it comes to gene editing? What are the potential benefits and perils of using – or not using – gene editing and what are the historical and current societal contexts through which we view them? This panel will explore multiple perspectives on the role of these technologies in agriculture, health, and conservation – and in achieving goals for a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future.

    Melissa Buffalo
    Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health

    Melissa Buffalo

    Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health

    Melissa Buffalo, M.S. is an enrolled member of the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa and Lakota from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Tribes. Melissa received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and her M.S. from South Dakota State University in Human Development, with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education (ECE). She is a Senior Clinical Research Specialist with The Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) and also works on The Research and Ethics Dissemination Core under the CoBRE grant. Ms. Buffalo’s background and interest are primarily in early childhood. In her current role with CRCAIH, she coordinates and supports various community engagement activities to assist Tribal partners in meeting their tribal research agenda goals and building their research infrastructure. Melissa also provides cultural competency training to staff and various entities specific to American Indian history, culture and trauma, and helping her audience gain a better understanding of historical trauma as it applies to the American Indian population.

    Jackie Leach Scully
    Policy, Ethics, and Life Sciences Institute at Newcastle University

    Jackie Leach Scully

    Policy, Ethics, and Life Sciences Institute at Newcastle University

    Jackie Leach Scully is Professor of Social Ethics and Bioethics, and Executive Director of the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALS), Newcastle University, UK. She has a PhD in molecular biology and spent some years in neurobiological research before following her interests in public engagement and bioethics. Her particular research interests include disability and D/deafness, feminist and empirical approaches to bioethics, reproductive technologies, technologies of identification, and the ethics of humanitarian intervention. She has been a disability activist for around 30 years.

    Klaas Martens
    Lakeview Organic Grain

    Klaas Martens

    Lakeview Organic Grain

    Klaas began his farming career as a conventional grower in the 1970s. He and his partner, Mary-Howell, began to transition their farm in the early 1990s. Klaas and Mary-Howell now farm 1,400 acres of certified organic crops and operate Lakeview Organic Grain, a certified organic feed and seed business. They are frequent speakers at conferences and have written extensively on organic farming. Organic research is a strong component of their farming operation. They have conducted on-farm research independently and in cooperation with university researchers.

    Ruramiso Mashumba
    Chomwedzi Farm, Zimbabwe; Mnandi Africa

    Ruramiso Mashumba

    Chomwedzi Farm, Zimbabwe; Mnandi Africa

    Ruramiso Mashumba is a farmer and the director and founder of Mnandi Africa, an organisation that works on reducing hunger and poverty in rural livelihoods in Africa. She grows snap peas, maize, whole brown rice, sorghum, millet and gum trees in eastern Zimbabwe. In 2017 she was recognized as an Echoing Green Fellow and elected deputy of the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions, and is the National Youth Chairperson for the Zimbabwe Farmers Union as well as a member of the Global Farmer Network.

    Kent Redford
    IUCN Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation; Archipelago Consulting

    Kent Redford

    IUCN Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation; Archipelago Consulting

    Kent H. Redford is Principal at Archipelago Consulting (archipelagoconsulting.com) established in 2012 and based in Portland, Maine, USA. Archipelago Consulting was designed to help individuals and organizations improve their practice of conservation and has worked with the Global Environment Facility, U.S. National Park Service, Moore Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Packard Foundation and the American Zoo and Aquarium Association amongst others. Prior to Archipelago Consulting Kent spent 14 years at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York. Previously he spent five years as head of Science and Stewardship in The Nature Conservancy’s Latin American Division. He started his career with a decade on the faculty at University of Florida where he co-founded the Program for Studies in Tropical Conservation and the Tropical Conservation and Development Programs. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University and has written numerous articles and books on synthetic biology and conservation, national parks, local peoples, conservation, and wildlife. He has organized and co-organized four meetings bringing together conservation biologists and synthetic biologists to discuss the future of nature in an increasingly synthetic world and currently serves as Chair of IUCN’s Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation.

    Moderator:

    Amy Dockser Marcus
    Wall Street Journal

    Amy Dockser Marcus

    Wall Street Journal

    Amy Dockser Marcus is a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal, where she covers health, medicine, and science. She was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting for a series of stories about cancer. In 2017, she received a master of bioethics degree from Harvard Medical School.

  • Omar Abudayyeh
    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Omar Abudayyeh

    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Omar O. Abudayyeh is an M.D.–Ph.D. student in the Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Health Sciences and Technology program. In the laboratory of Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, his doctoral research focuses on the discovery and characterization of novel CRISPR proteins, such as Cpf1, C2c1 and Cas13a/C2c2, in bacteria for applications in diagnostics and therapeutics. In 2012, Omar graduated with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Biological Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Jonathan Gootenberg
    Broad Institute

    Jonathan Gootenberg

    Broad Institute

    Jonathan S. Gootenberg is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Harvard Systems Biology program, co-advised by Feng Zhang and Aviv Regev of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Jonathan’s research combines computational and molecular approaches to discover and characterize new biological tools, with a specific focus on CRISPR/Cas proteins. These tools have diverse basic science and translational applications, including nucleic acid detection, RNA editing, and live-cell imaging.

  • Keynote: Conversation with a CRISPR scientist This interview with Feng Zhang will present some of the latest developments in CRISPR science and reflect on the role of scientists in the societal debate on gene editing. Zhang is a pioneering molecular biologist who adapted multiple CRISPR systems for use as genome engineering tools, including Cas9 and Cas12 and most recently, Cas13, which targets RNA. He is a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience at MIT, and an associate professor at MIT. His team has trained thousands of researchers in the use of CRISPR genome editing technology through direct education and by sharing more than 42,000 CRISPR components with 2,300 academic laboratories in 62 countries to help accelerate global research to benefit human health.

    Feng Zhang
    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Feng Zhang

    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Feng Zhang is a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, as well as an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience at MIT, and an associate professor at MIT, with joint appointments in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering.

    Zhang is a molecular biologist developing and applying novel molecular technologies for studying the molecular and genetic basis of diseases and providing treatment. Zhang has pioneered the development of genome editing tools for use in eukaryotic cells – including human cells – from natural microbial CRISPR systems. He and his team have adapted multiple CRISPR systems for use as genome engineering tools, including most recently, the RNA-targeting system CRISPR-Cas13a.

    Zhang leverages CRISPR and other methods to study the genetics and epigenetics of human diseases, especially complex disorders, such as psychiatric and neurological diseases, that are caused by multiple genetic and environmental risk factors and which are difficult to model using conventional methods. His lab’s tools, which he has made widely available, are also being used in the fields of immunology, clinical medicine, and cancer biology, among others. His long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies for disease treatment.

    Zhang is a recipient of many awards including the Canada Gairdner International Award, the Tang Prize, the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists, the Albany Medical Center Price in Medicine and Biomedical Research, and the Lemelson-MIT Prize. He has also received technology innovation awards from the Paul G. Allen Family, McKnight, New York Stem Cell, and Damon Runyon foundations.

    Zhang received his A.B. in chemistry and physics from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University.

    Interviewer:

    Carey Goldberg
    WBUR

    Carey Goldberg

    WBUR

    Carey Goldberg covers health and science for WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, and hosts the station’s CommonHealth blog. She has been the Boston bureau chief of The New York Times, a staff Moscow correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, and a health/science reporter for The Boston Globe. She was a Knight Science Journalism fellow at MIT; graduated summa cum laude from Yale; and did graduate work at Harvard. She is co-author of the triple memoir “Three Wishes: A True Story Of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak and Astonishing Luck On Our Way To Love and Motherhood.” Among her awards is this year’s American Association for Cancer Research June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism.

  • Break

  • Zhanyan Fu
    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Zhanyan Fu

    McGovern Institute; Broad Institute

    Zhanyan Fu is a Group Leader at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where she specializes in the study of synaptic and circuitry defects in genetic cellular and animal models. An expert in the electrophysiological assessment of synaptic and circuit functions, Fu and her team hope to advance the understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanism of psychiatric disorders and explore novel treatments for these diseases. In addition to her role at the Broad, Fu is an affiliate member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Prior to the Broad, Fu served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. While at Duke, Fu focused on characterizing synaptic and circuit level defects in mouse models of autism spectrum disorders. In 2012, Fu received the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

  • Joanna Buchthal
    MIT Media Lab

    Joanna Buchthal

    MIT Media Lab

    A scientist, entrepreneur, and designer, Joanna is currently pursuing her PhD in the Sculpting Evolution Group at the MIT Media Lab. Her research is focused on preventing Lyme and other tick-borne diseases by creating heritably immunized white-footed mice, the primary reservoir of the pathogens that cause many tick-borne illnesses in the Northeast. As the Project Manager and a resident of Martha’s Vineyard, she’s been pioneering an open and community-responsive approach to her research by involving her own community in making key science and engineering decisions, a model she hopes will spread throughout science. Previously, she has worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and at NASA’s Habitability Design Center, and as COO of a spotifynatural language processing start-up. She holds a BFA in industrial design from Rhode Island School of Design.

  • It Takes a Village: Scientists, communities, and the co-development of ecotechnologies Engagement is often promoted as an essential component of decision-making, especially for gene editing applications that can have community-wide impacts. This panel will explore case studies of how scientists are engaging with communities around the world to inform one of the most debated areas of gene editing research: ecotechnologies, including gene drives and other technologies, that could control and even eliminate entire populations of disease-carrying and invasive species.

    Kevin Esvelt
    MIT Media Lab

    Kevin Esvelt

    MIT Media Lab

    Kevin M. Esvelt is an assistant professor of the MIT Media Lab, where he leads the Sculpting Evolution Group in exploring evolutionary and ecological engineering.

    He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University for inventing a synthetic microbial ecosystem to rapidly evolve useful biomolecules, and subsequently helped pioneer the development of CRISPR, a powerful new method of genome engineering.

    In 2013, Esvelt was the first to identify the potential for CRISPR “gene drive” systems to alter wild populations of organisms. Recognizing the implications of an advance that could enable individual scientists to alter the shared environment, he and his colleagues chose to break with scientific tradition by revealing their findings and calling for open discussion and safeguards before they demonstrated the technology in the laboratory.

    At MIT, the Sculpting Evolution Group develops safer “daisy drives” that only spread locally, as well as ways of restoring populations to their original genetics. Together with the communities of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, they are advancing the “Mice Against Ticks” project aiming to prevent tick-borne disease. Other research interests include unraveling the workings of molecular evolution, controlling the fitness of microbes in the gut, and reducing animal suffering. An outspoken advocate of freely sharing research plans to accelerate discovery and improve safety, Kevin seeks to use gene drive as a catalyst to reform the scientific ecosystem.

    Sculpting Evolution is currently supported by the MIT Media Lab, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, NIH R00 and DP2 New Innovator Awards, DARPA Safe Genes, CDMRP’s Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, and the Rainwater Foundation. We are very grateful for both public and private support and pledge to use it wisely.

    Carrie Fyler
    Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School

    Carrie Fyler

    Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School

    Parasitologist and molecular biologist Carrie Fyler received her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut where she studied the taxonomy and evolutionary biology of Acanthobothrium, a tapeworm genus parasitizing elasmobranchs. She has conducted field research on 4 continents and participated in workshops and conferences in over 10 countries. Carrie currently teaches AP Biology and Science Research at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. She is particularly interested in reducing the prevalence of tick borne pathogens on Martha’s Vineyard and is actively involved with the Chilmark Board of Health and Kevin Esvelt’s team at MIT on a community based project in which local mice will be genetically engineered to be heritably immune to Borrelia, the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. This project has the potential to break the transmission cycle of Borrelia and reduce the occurrence of Lyme on Martha’s Vineyard.

    Edward Kabayi
    Local Council Chairperson for Uganda Private Research Institute

    Edward Kabayi

    Local Council Chairperson for Uganda Private Research Institute

    Kabayi Edward Gideon is a Local Council Chairperson of Virus sub-ward, Entebbe Municipality, Uganda. This is the neighboring community around the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) where Target Malaria research is carried out in Uganda. It is also the community where the insectary is under construction to rear mosquitoes and conduct laboratory tests on the mosquitoes.

    In my capacity as village Chairperson for the above community, I have been engaged and given information on the Target Malaria research as well as the construction of the ACL2 insectary on the UVRI premises. I have been responsible for mobilizing community members for the engagement team of Target Malaria to raise awareness on the research project, as well as answer questions and concerns raised by the community. I also engage with community members after the engagement team has left to allay any fears.

    Additionally, I am part of the grievance committee for Target Malaria in my community. Through village meetings and home visits, and together with the village health teams, I have managed to pass on information about construction of the insectary and the Target Malaria novel technology under development for malaria control.

    Melanie Mark-Shadbolt
    Maori Biosecurity Network; Lincoln University

    Melanie Mark-Shadbolt

    Maori Biosecurity Network; Lincoln University

    Melanie Mark-Shadbolt is the CEO of Te Tira Whakamātaki (the Māori Biosecurity Network), the Māori Research & Development Manager for the Bio-Protection Research Centre at Lincoln University, and the Māori Manager for New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge. Her areas of research include human dimensions of environmental health, specifically how Indigenous people view biosecurity and how they participate in the management and protection of their environment and culturally significant species. She is increasingly interested in the application of disaster risk reduction models in the environmental space.

    Delphine Thizy
    Target Malaria

    Delphine Thizy

    Target Malaria

    Delphine Thizy is the Stakeholder Engagement Manager of Target Malaria, a non-for-profit consortium of researchers developing an innovating vector control approach to save millions of lives from malaria. She has over 10 years’ experience in the field of stakeholder engagement in lower-income countries, with a particular attention on conflict drivers. After receiving her Master’s Degree in development studies and project management from the University Pierre Mendes France (Grenoble, France), she worked in advocacy for Palestinian farmers’ rights before holding several positions within PlaNet Finance in the Middle East and South Asia. There she was responsible for technical assistance to microfinance institutions in post-conflict countries as well as leading a team for capacity strengthening of various civil society groups. Afterwards she joined a consultancy company, Channel Research, specialising on social impact of projects. In that role she conducted a number of projects evaluations in the field of humanitarian aid and development for a variety of donors and organisations – including the European Commission, members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and private foundations. After creating her own consultancy company, she specialized in social performance and stakeholder engagement for infrastructure and extractive industries. She led several teams for large social impact assessments across Africa. Since 2014 she became the Stakeholder Engagement Manager of Target Malaria and works with teams in Mali, Uganda and Burkina Faso, as well as at the global level to engage stakeholders to co-develop and share an innovative long-term, sustainable and cost-effective vector control technology.

    Moderator:

    Megan Molteni
    WIRED

    Megan Molteni

    WIRED

    Megan Molteni is a staff writer at WIRED, where she covers the ways in which bleeding-edge technologies like Crispr are transforming science, health, and society. Her work has appeared in Popular Science, Discover, Undark, and Aeon. Molteni studied molecular biology and ultimate frisbee at Carleton College and has a graduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She’s based in San Francisco and Minneapolis.

  • Lunch

    Harborview Ballroom

    Sponsored by Synthego

  • Ideas Marketplace: Participant-led roundtable discussions

    Cityview Ballroom

  • Break

  • Michael Gomez
    Innovative Genomics Institute

    Michael Gomez

    Innovative Genomics Institute

    Michael Gomez is a postdoctoral scholar at the Innovative Genomics Institute in the Staskawicz Lab. He completed his PhD in Microbiology in the Plant and Microbial Biology Department at University of California, Berkeley. Gomez’s interests lie in sustainable solutions to global food challenges. His ongoing work focuses on translating CRISPR systems into tools to effectively control plant disease in cassava, citrus, cacao, and other crops.

  • Of the People, By the People, For the People: Gene editing and technology democratization The relative ease and lower costs of new techniques have sparked visions of biotechnology democratization – with more people developing, collaborating on, and benefiting from gene editing applications to cure disease, meet consumer food demands, and more. But questions about intellectual property, safety, biosecurity, and governance remain. Using examples from health, agriculture, and the DIY community, this panel will explore the societal implications of technology democratization for what science and research get prioritized, who delivers it, how it is received or accepted, and who benefits.

    Antonio Cosme
    Southwest Grows; Southwest Beetroit

    Antonio Cosme

    Southwest Grows; Southwest Beetroit

    Antonio Cosme is an indigenous writer, public speaker, entrepreneur, educator, artist, bee keeper and farmer from Southwest, Detroit. His work has been dedicated to lecturing, writing, and acting in opposition to the neoliberal assault on Detroit and water. His viral street art is featured in movies, articles and research papers. Antonio cofounded the Raiz Up, a xicano and indigenous hiphop collective using art as way to create consciousness and support movement #Raizup. Beyond just resisting the abuse of public goods, Antonio works to transform his community through artistic and ecological community through his farm #SWGrows and a beekeeping co-op #SWBeetroit.

    Natalie DiNicola
    Benson Hill Biosystems

    Natalie DiNicola

    Benson Hill Biosystems

    Dr. DiNicola has over 20 years of experience in the agri-food industry and a decade of experience in sustainability and agriculture development. Her expertise focuses on business needs assessment and strategy, partnership development and contract negotiation, coalition building, sustainability process and reporting, food and agriculture policy, and communications. Her clients include established and emerging companies and public institutions across the food & agricultural value chain.

    Natalie worked for Monsanto Company in roles within Business, Technology, Regulatory Affairs, and Corporate Engagement. She served as Chief Sustainability Officer and led strategy and execution of all sustainability efforts to achieve business goals including environmental sustainability, food and nutrition security, farmer livelihoods and sustainability reporting. She served as a primary spokesperson for the company and led engagement with NGOs, foundations, public research institutions, government organizations and industry to identify and advance common goals. She also served as Vice President of Corporate Engagement for Africa working closely with smallholder farmers.

    Natalie serves on the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Leadership Council and the Board of Meds and Food for Kids. She received her B.A. in Biology from St. Mary’s College and her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Ellen Jorgensen
    Biotech Without Borders

    Ellen Jorgensen

    Biotech Without Borders

    Dr. Jorgensen is passionate about increasing science literacy in both student and adult populations, particularly in the areas of molecular and synthetic biology. She cofounded and directed the community lab Genspace in Brooklyn NY where she initiated an award-winning curriculum of informal science education for adults and students in biotechnology and synthetic biology. Under her leadership, Genspace was named one of the World’s Top 10 Innovative Companies in Education by Fast Company magazine. Her efforts to develop innovative ways to support citizen participation in science have been chronicled by Science, Discover Magazine, Wired, Make, BBC News, Nature Medicine, Dan Rather Reports, PBS News Hour, The Discovery Channel, and The New York Times. She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from New York University, spent many years in the biotechnology industry, and is currently adjunct faculty at The Cooper Union. Dr. Jorgensen’s two TED talks (Biohacking: You Can Do It Too and What You Need To Know About CRISPR) have received over two million views. In 2017, Fast Company magazine named her one of their Most Creative Leaders in Business.

    Joanne Kamens
    Addgene

    Joanne Kamens

    Addgene

    Dr. Kamens is the Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to helping scientists around the world share useful research reagents and data. The repository contains over 60,000 plasmids contributed by 3,800 research labs around the world. In 2018, Addgene will distribute its 1 millionth plasmid. Addgene also provides ready-to-use AAV and lentivirus preparations of commonly requested plasmids as a service to scientists – saving them time and providing thorough quality control. According to The Boston Globe, Addgene was the #1 2016 Boston Globe Top Place to Work and has won numerous other business and employee honors. Dr. Kamens received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 20 years as a researcher and director in pharma and biotech. Dr. Kamens founded the Boston chapter of the Association for Women in Science. She is active in creating and supporting a number of mentoring programs for science trainees. In 2013, she was named one of PharmaVoice’s 100 Most Inspiring Commanders & Chiefs. You can find her @jkamens on Twitter and on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannekamens.

    Luisel Ricks-Santi
    Hampton University Cancer Research Center

    Luisel Ricks-Santi

    Hampton University Cancer Research Center

    Dr. Ricks-Santi is the founder of the Hampton University Cancer Research Center. Dr. Ricks-Santi received her B.S. in Molecular Biology and her PhD from Georgetown University in Tumor Biology. Her post-doctoral work at Howard University focused on the genetic basis of cancer disparities. While there, she led a study to identify the genes associated with breast and prostate cancer in African Americans and Latinos. Additionally, she educated the community about cancer and about cancer research, and then successfully recruited hundreds of African Americans and Latinos to join her breast cancer study. This research study led to the establishment of the Cancer Genetics Program at the Howard University Cancer Center.

    Moderator:

    Emily Mullin
    MIT Technology Review

    Emily Mullin

    MIT Technology Review

    Emily Mullin is associate editor for biomedicine at MIT Technology Review, where she writes about how cutting-edge technology like CRISPR is changing our health and medicine. Previously, she was a contributor at Forbes, and before that, an associate editor at FierceBiotech. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, The Atlantic and Pacific Standard. She teaches in the MA in science writing program at Johns Hopkins University.

  • Folagbayi Arowolo
    University of Wisconsin

    Folagbayi Arowolo

    University of Wisconsin

    Folagbayi (Fola) Arowolo is a doctoral candidate in the Molecular and Environmental Toxicology program. His research focuses on understanding the impact of dietary oxidized lipids on gastrointestinal immunity and chronic diseases risks. Outside of the lab, Fola serves as the treasurer of Catalysts for Science Policy, which is a graduate student-led organization aimed at educating the local community about science policy and emphasizing the importance of increasing scientist participation in science policy issues at the local and national level. In rapidly advancing fields of gene editing and precision medicine, Fola believes that it is important to spur intellectual discourse regarding the societal implications of these cutting-edge technologies.

  • Bethany Redel
    University of Missouri

    Bethany Redel

    University of Missouri

    For the past 10 years, Dr. Redel has been working to improve pig oocyte and embryo culture conditions by using changes in the oocyte and embryo transcriptome to logically direct revisions to the medium. More recently, she has begun to genetically modify pigs to create models of human disease and for agriculture. She obtained her BS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and MS, PhD and Postdoc from the University of Missouri. During her time at Missouri, she developed new embryo culture medium supplements that have increased the quality and number of blastocysts derived from oocyte maturation, in vitro fertilization and culture. One example includes a new chemically defined oocyte maturation medium that quadrupled the efficiency of producing genetically modified piglets. Since graduating with her PhD, Dr. Redel’s focus has expanded to include genetic modifications of pigs. She has become proficient in genome editing, and creating genetically modified pigs by using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and microinjection combined with CRISPR/Cas9 technology on pig oocytes/embryos. Dr. Redel created a unique Cas9 mRNA that does not possess a poly(A) tail but rather a triple helical tail that creates gene edits in pig zygotes at the same frequency as commercial Cas9 mRNA. Recently, she created pig models of Prader-Willi Syndrome and Phenylketonuria by using CRISPR/Cas9 RNA injection into zygotes. Dr. Redel is currently a Research Scientist in the Division of Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri.

  • CRISPR and the ‘Culture Creators’: The role of thought leaders, trendmakers, and trust builders in societal conversations on gene editing Public views of technology are often shaped by ‘culture creators’ and thought influencers. From community organizers and religious leaders to consumer brands and traditional journalists, how are culture creators interacting with their communities and consumers? How are they influencing and responding to societal perspectives on CRISPR in food, health, and the environment? And what lessons can we draw about the issues and outreach approaches that matter most as thought leaders engage with a diverse public on topics of gene editing?

    Shaykh Yasir Fahmy
    Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

    Shaykh Yasir Fahmy

    Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

    Shaykh Yasir F. Fahmy was born and raised in Northern New Jersey. He began his formal training in the traditional Islamic sciences when he attended the Islamic University of Jordan at the age of seventeen. After completing a year of intensive study, he returned home to the United States where he completed a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University and worked for three years in corporate America.

    Shaykh Yasir then returned to the Middle East to attend the prestigious Al-Azhar University. During his seven years of studying in the Middle East, he completed a degree from Al-Azhar University, while simultaneously studying under and attending the classes of numerous scholars in and around Al-Azhar and receiving numerous ‘ijazaat (independent certifications). In 2013, Shaykh Yasir Fahmy became the first American Azhari to teach in the renowned Al-Azhar Mosque.

    Taylor Kane
    Remember the Girls

    Taylor Kane

    Remember the Girls

    Taylor Kane is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Remember the Girls, an international support and advocacy group which unites, educates and empowers female carriers of rare genetic disorders, a group that is underrepresented and often overlooked by the medical profession. Taylor learned that she was a carrier of the rare genetic disease Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) after her father died from the disease when she was five years old and has been a fierce advocate ever since, having helped raise more than $250,000 for ALD research. In 2013, she successfully lobbied the New Jersey legislature and Governor to enact a law requiring the screening of newborns for ALD, as the disease can only be cured if treated before symptoms develop. Shortly thereafter, she founded a campaign called YAC (Young ALD Carriers) to support young females who carry the gene for ALD and to assist them in effectuating positive change through advocacy, social media and the legislative process. The campaign has attracted young ALD carriers from around the world, and currently has members from as far away as South Africa and Estonia. Taylor is also an accomplished speaker, an author, and an award-winning activist. She is presently an upcoming junior at The George Washington University, where she is pursuing a degree in Political Communication and minor in Women’s Studies and Public Policy.

    Florcy Romero
    Personal Genetics Education Project at Harvard University; Women of Color in Solidarity

    Florcy Romero

    Personal Genetics Education Project at Harvard University; Women of Color in Solidarity

    Florcy is the Curriculum Development and Training Associate at the Personal Genetics Education Program at the Harvard Medical School. She works to incorporate different perspectives into the realm of genetics. She is also co-founder of Women of Color in Solidarity. She dedicates her time to using education for the practice of freedom in ways that are not confined solely to institutions. Her main work has centered on teaching youth from her barrio via self-designed curriculums that reflect our realities and cultures. Her life work focuses on decolonization and healing, undoing generations of trauma. Her knowledge is not just hers but by way of the indigenous women who came before her and passed it on. The healers, the brujas, the Mother Earth protectors.

    Dave Stangis
    Campbell Soup Company

    Dave Stangis

    Campbell Soup Company

    Dave Stangis serves as Vice President-Corporate Responsibility and Chief Sustainability Officer for Campbell Soup Company. Dave designs Campbell’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability strategies, goals, policies, and programs. He leads the Company’s strategies and external engagement related to CSR Strategy, Responsible Sourcing, Sustainable Agriculture, and Operational Sustainability. Dave joined Campbell as Vice President-CSR and Sustainability in September 2008. In 2011, his role was expanded to include oversight of Community Affairs and the Campbell Soup Foundation. From 2011 to 2016, he led the Community Affairs Organization and served as President of the Campbell Soup Foundation. Since 2016, Dave has been an Entrepreneur in Residence and Senior Fellow in Social Innovation at Babson College. Previously, Dave worked for 12 years at Intel, where he created and led the corporate responsibility function.

    Sarah Zhang
    The Atlantic

    Sarah Zhang

    The Atlantic

    Sarah Zhang is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers health and science. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Discover, and Nature. She is based in Washington, DC.

    Moderator:

    David Sittenfeld
    Manager of Forums and National Collaborations, Museum of Science in Boston

    David Sittenfeld

    Manager of Forums and National Collaborations, Museum of Science in Boston

    David Sittenfeld is Manager of Forums and National Collaborations at the Museum of Science in Boston.  In this work, David and his colleagues engage publics, policymakers, and scientists in conversations around emerging scientific and technological issues.  In addition to overseeing the Museum’s Forum program, David regularly gives talks on topics in current science and technology at the Museum, delivers demonstrations in the exhibit halls, and manages special programs and exhibit projects.  David leads national efforts such as the NSF-funded Building with Biology project, which facilitated conversations among public audiences and members of the synthetic biology community at over 200 informal science education sites around the United States including over 50 deliberative Forums on topics including mosquito engineering and human genome editing.  David is a co-founder of the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology Network, which will be organizing NIH-funded US deliberations on genome editing technologies as part of an upcoming global deliberation on genome editing that was recently highlighted in Science magazine.

  • Adjourn; CRISPRcon Reception

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members

    Harborview Ballroom

  • Partner-Sponsored 'Meet a Farmer' Reception Join farmers from around the country for food and continued conversation about gene editing and agriculture.

    Harborview Ballroom

    Sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Board, United Soybean Board, and U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance

    Sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Producers Council, United Soybean Board, and U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance

  • Coffee and Light Breakfast

  • Optional Capacity Building Session: Expanding the CRISPRcon conversation

  • Welcome

    Aviv Regev
    Broad Institute

    Aviv Regev

    Broad Institute

    Aviv Regev, a computational and systems biologist, is a professor of biology at MIT, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Chair of the Faculty and the director of the Klarman Cell Observatory and Cell Circuits Program at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and co-chair of the organizing committee for the international Human Cell Atlas project.

    She studies the molecular circuitry that governs the function of mammalian cells in health and disease and has pioneered many leading experimental and computational methods for the reconstruction of circuits, including in single-cell genomics.

    Regev is a recipient of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, a Sloan fellowship from the Sloan Foundation, the Overton Prize from the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Scholar Award from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the ISCB Innovator Award, and she is a ISCB Fellow (2016).

    Regev received her M.Sc. from Tel Aviv University, studying biology, computer science, and mathematics in the Interdisciplinary Program for the Fostering of Excellence. She received her Ph.D. in computational biology from Tel Aviv University.

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members and Organizers

    CRISPRcon Steering Committee Members and Organizers

  • Keynote: Wizards and Prophets: The edge of the petri dish Noted author and journalist Charles Mann will explore how different societal views shape our ideas about science and technology. Mann wrote the newly released “The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World” as well as the acclaimed books “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” — which won the 2006 National Academies Communication Award — and “1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created.”

    Charles Mann
    Journalist and Author, 1491 and The Wizard and the Prophet

    Charles Mann

    Journalist and Author, 1491 and The Wizard and the Prophet

    Charles C. Mann, a correspondent for The Atlantic, Science, and Wired, has also written for Fortune, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Technology Review, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post, as well as for the TV network HBO and the series Law & Order. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he is the recipient of writing awards from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Physics, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation. His book 1491 won the National Academies Communication Award for the best book of the year.

    Photo credit: Michael Lionstar

  • Andy Read
    Cornell University

    Andy Read

    Cornell University

    Andy is currently a plant pathology PhD student at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science. His research centers on bacterial leaf streak of rice caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola. This disease contributes to food insecurity by decreasing rice yields in Asia and Africa. Andy is involved in a large inter-institutional project that is using the comprehensive genetic resources available for rice in order to engineer resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses including bacterial leaf streak. Prior to Cornell, Andy completed his BA in biology at the University of Hawaii and worked for several years in the agricultural biotechnology industry. You can find Andy on twitter @hashtag_read and learn more about the project @plantediting101.

  • John Doench
    Broad Institute

    John Doench

    Broad Institute

    John G. Doench is the Associate Director of the Genetic Perturbation Platform (GPP) and an Institute Scientist at the Broad Institute. He develops and applies the latest approaches in functional genomics, including RNAi, ORF, and CRISPR technologies, to understand the function of genes and how gene dysfunction leads to disease. John collaborates with researchers across the Broad, the Boston community, and the world to develop faithful biological models and execute genetic screens. Prior to joining the Broad in 2009, John did his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, received his PhD from the biology department at MIT, and majored in history at Hamilton College. John lives in Jamaica Plain, MA with his wife and daughter, where he enjoys screaming for the Patriots, playing volleyball, running, and avoiding imminent death while navigating the streets of Boston on a bicycle.

  • Crossing Borders: International dynamics and influences on gene editing and society From biodiversity and biosecurity to agricultural trade and innovation in human gene editing, CRISPR raises important questions about the borders of biotechnology. This panel will explore examples of the challenges and opportunities in coordination, collaboration, and governance for gene editing across nations and cultures. It will consider similarities and differences in the international dynamics shaping gene editing in food, health, and conservation.

    Fan-Li Chou
    U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Fan-Li Chou

    U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Dr. Fan-Li Chou serves as the Biotechnology Coordinator for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). She provides leadership, coordination, and strategic planning of USDA’s biotechnology policy. She works closely with decision makers in USDA, in other Federal agencies, and in Congress on the development and implementation of biotechnology policy. She is a key contact point for biotechnology policy with industry, non-governmental organizations, other Federal and State government agencies, farmers, and other stakeholders. Fan-Li has over ten years of experiences at the USDA, including positions with the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Fan-Li has represented the USDA at various bilateral and multilateral negotiations, including for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Fan-Li is an American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow (2005-2006). She holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics from the University of Pittsburgh and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Scripps Research Institute and University of California, San Diego.

    Sheila Jasanoff
    Harvard University

    Sheila Jasanoff

    Harvard University

    Sheila Jasanoff is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is also affiliated with the Department of the History of Science, member of the Board of Tutors in Environmental Science and Public Policy, and visiting professor at Harvard Law School. Before joining Harvard, she was Professor of Science Policy and Law and founding chair of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University.

    At Harvard, Jasanoff founded and directs the Program on Science, Technology and Society. The Program coordinates a series of activities at and beyond Harvard, including the weekly STS Circle colloquium series, the Science and Democracy lectures, and the Science and Democracy Network.

    Jasanoff’s longstanding research interests center on the interactions of law, science, and politics in democratic societies. She is particularly concerned with the construction of public reason in various cultural contexts, and with the role of science and technology in globalization. Specific areas of work include science and the courts; environmental regulation and risk management; comparative public policy; social studies of science and technology; and science and technology policy.

    She has published more than 120 articles and book chapters and authored or edited numerous books, including Controlling Chemicals: The Politics of Regulation in Europe and the United States (1985; with R. Brickman and T. Ilgen), Risk Management and Political Culture (1985), The Fifth Branch: Science Advisers as Policymakers (1990). Her book Science at the Bar: Law, Science and Technology in America (1995) received the Don K. Price award of the American Political Science Association, Section on Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics, for the best book on science and politics (1998).

    Jasanoff’s work has been recognized with many awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Twente, an Ehrenkreuz from the Government of Austria, the Sarton medal in history of science of the University of Ghent, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and membership in the Royal Danish Academy of Arts and Letters.

    Duanquing Pei
    Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health

    Duanquing Pei

    Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health

    Duanquing Pei, PhD, is Professor of stem cell biology and also serves as the Director General (President) at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Guangzhou, China. He obtained his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan before becoming a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in 1996. He joined the Medical Faculty at Tsinghua University in Beijing China in 2002 and moved to the newly formed GIBH in 2004. Upon returning to China, he once again changed his field of study and started working on pluripotency first and then reprogramming. The Pei lab in Tsinghua began to publish in the stem cell field on the structure and function of Oct4, Sox2, FoxD3, Essrb, and Nanog, and their interdependent relationship towards pluripotency. Based the understanding of these factors, the Pei lab was the first in China to create mouse iPSCs using a non-selective system, and then improved the iPS process systematically. The Pei lab subsequently disseminated the iPS technology in China by providing not only resources, but also training workshops. Publications from the Pei lab includes the discovery of vitamin C as a potent booster for iPSC generation and the histone demethylases Jhdm1a/1b are key effectors of somatic cell reprogramming downstream of vitamin C, as well as a mesenchymal to epithelial transition initiates the reprogramming process of mouse fibroblasts. Now, his lab continues to explore new ways to improve iPS technology, dissect the reprogramming mechanisms driven by Oct4/Sox2/Klf4 or fewer factors, and employ iPSCs to model human diseases in vitro.

    Manoela Pessoa de Miranda
    Convention on Biological Diversity

    Manoela Pessoa de Miranda

    Convention on Biological Diversity

    Dr. Manoela Pessoa de Miranda is a plant molecular biologist from Brazil whose studies and profession have taken her across a few continents to Japan, Germany, Austria and Canada. She joined the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2007 and for the past 2 years, she has taken up the leadership of the Biosafety and Biosecurity team. Among her duties under the Convention, she is responsible for facilitating technical and intergovernmental science-policy dialogues and negotiations on issues such as synthetic biology and environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms. Manoela has a passion for the outdoors, and in her free time she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, scuba diving and traveling. She joined the UN with the belief that each of us can play a part in making the world a better place for future generations.

    Moderator:

    Gideon Rose
    Foreign Affairs

    Gideon Rose

    Foreign Affairs

    Gideon Rose has been Editor of Foreign Affairs since 2010, after serving as Managing Editor of the magazine from 2000-2010. Prior to that he was Deputy Director of Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 1994-1995 he served as Associate Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He received a BA in Classics from Yale and a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard, and has taught American foreign policy at Princeton and Columbia. He is the author of How Wars End (Simon & Schuster, 2010) and other works.

  • Break

  • Adam Kokotovich
    North Carolina State University

    Adam Kokotovich

    North Carolina State University

    Dr. Adam Kokotovich is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at North Carolina State University where he studies engagement in synthetic biology risk assessment and governance. An interdisciplinary social scientist, he is particularly interested in highlighting and opening to reflexive scrutiny the consequential value judgments and assumptions that influence decision-making related to science, risk, and the environment. His past research has focused on the governance of invasive species and genetic engineering.

  • Infinity and Beyond? Exploring and determining limits for gene editing How do we debate and decide upon the future of gene editing from the perspective of moral, ethical, technical, and societal ‘limits’? How do we define principles around acceptability and identify when we are comfortable with these technologies, and when it is that we go ‘too far’? What is the role of dialogue and debate, how do we make it actionable, and how can we learn from and connect the debates happening within multiple sectors?

    Nnimmo Bassey
    Health of Mother Earth Foundation

    Nnimmo Bassey

    Health of Mother Earth Foundation

    Nnimmo Bassey is director of the ecological think tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and a member of the steering committee of Oilwatch International. He campaigns on biosafety/hunger politics as well as fossil politics. He was chair of Friends of the Earth International (2008-2012) and Executive Director of Nigeria’s Environmental Rights Action (1993-2013). He was a co-recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award also known as the “Alternative Noble Prize.” In 2012 he received the Rafto Human Rights Award. Bassey is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and has authored books on the environment, architecture and poetry. His books include We Thought It Was Oil, but It Was Blood – Poetry (Kraft Books, 2002), I Will Not Dance to Your Beat – Poetry (Kraft Books, 2011), To Cook a Continent – Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa (Pambazuka Press, 2012) and Oil Politics – Echoes of Ecological War (Daraja Press, 2016).

    George Church
    Wyss Institute at Harvard Medical School

    George Church

    Wyss Institute at Harvard Medical School

    George Church is Professor at Harvard & MIT, co-author of 450 papers, 95 patent publications & the book Regenesis. He developed methods used for the first genome sequence (1994) & genome recoding & million-fold cost reductions since. He co-initiated the BRAIN Initiative (2011) & Genome Projects (1984, 2005) to provide & interpret world’s only open-access personal precision medicine data.

    Photo credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

    Reverend Kevin FitzGerald
    Georgetown University

    Reverend Kevin FitzGerald

    Georgetown University

    Dr. FitzGerald, is the Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethics in the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and a Ph.D. in bioethics, from Georgetown University. His research efforts focus on the investigation of abnormal gene expression in cancer, and on ethical issues in biomedical research and medical genomics. He is a founding member of Do No Harm, a member of the ethics committee for the March of Dimes, the Genetic Alliance IRB, and the Stem Cell Research Commission for the State of Maryland. In addition, he served until March 2009 as a member of the DHHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society. Before coming to Georgetown, Fr. FitzGerald held positions as Assistant Professor at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Strich School of Medicine and the Department of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center. Additionally, he was a Research Associate in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, and Medical Humanities Program, Loyola University Medical Center. Fr. FitzGerald has been a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy of Life since 2005, and has been a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Culture since 2014. He serves as the Chair of the Ethics Advisory Board for the Clinical Genomics Research Program of the Geisinger Health System, as well as the Chair of the Georgetown University Medical Center Conflict of Interest Committee.

    Randy Spronk
    Spronk Brothers; Ranger Farms

    Randy Spronk

    Spronk Brothers; Ranger Farms

    Randy Spronk, a pork producer from Edgerton, Minn., serves as a past president of the National Pork Producers Council. Spronk is the managing partner for two family farms: Spronk Brothers III LLP (pork production) and Ranger Farms LLP (crop production). The pork production enterprise markets 120,000 head annually, and the crop production consists of corn and soybeans.

    Spronk served on the NPPC Board of Directors from 2007-2015. Randy served and chaired on numerous committees and continues to represent producers and the industry in a host of venues from Congress to tradeshows.

    Spronk has also been involved with the Minnesota Pork Producers Association, serving as president in 1999.

    Spronk holds a degree in animal science from South Dakota State University.

    Moderator:

    Tamar Haspel
    Washington Post Columnist

    Tamar Haspel

    Washington Post Columnist

    Tamar is a journalist on the food and science beat, and writes the James Beard award-winning Washington Post column, Unearthed. When she’s not doing the heavy lifting of journalism, she helps her husband on their Cape Cod oyster farm.

  • Adjourn

    CRISPRcon Hosts

    CRISPRcon Hosts

Photo Gallery

STEERING COMMITTEE

Mark Cigan, Genus

Sarah Davidson Evanega, Cornell Alliance for Science

Jennifer Doudna, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of California Berkeley

Cassie Edgar, McKee, Voorhees & Sease PLC

Bill Even, National Pork Board

Michael Fernandez, George Washington University Sustainability Collaborative

Michael Friend, Minority Coalition for Precision Medicine

Marnie Gelbart, Personal Genetics Education Project, Harvard Medical School

Neal Gutterson, Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDupont

Rachel Haurwitz, Caribou Bioscience

Tim Hunt, Editas Medicine

Greg Jaffe, Center for Science in the Public Interest

Susan Jenkins, Innovative Genomics Institute

Lee McGuire, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Jeff Moen, Noble Research Institute, LLC

Julie Pryor, McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT

Sesquile Ramon, Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Rebecca Shaw, World Wildlife Fund

 

CRISPRcon was hosted by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.

This event was developed by the Keystone Policy Center in partnership with the Personal Genetics Education Project of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the CRISPRcon Steering committee. Special thanks to Johnny Kung and Florcy Romero of pgED.

SPONSORS

CRISPRcon welcomes sponsorship from organizations interested in supporting CRISPRcon’s mission to create a unique forum of diverse perspectives on gene editing. Funding supports program development and direct costs associated with the event, including speaker support to enable diverse participation. CRISPRcon is a not-for-profit event.

CRISPRcon is a program of Keystone Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Keystone operates under a statement of independence to serve all of its project participants and does not advocate for any specific or general uses of CRISPR or other gene-editing technologies.

PRESS

For press inquiries concerning CRISPRcon, media access, and other questions, please contact:

press@crisprcon.org

 

Coverage of CRISPRcon 2018 in Boston

The public doesn’t trust GMOs. Will it trust CRISPR? | Vox – Tamar Haspel

CRISPR conference assesses promises and pitfalls of gene editing | Agri-Pulse

A CRISPR Pioneer on Gene Editing: “ We Shouldn’t Screw It Up” | The Atlantic – Sarah Zhang

At CRISPRcon, an organic luminary embraces gene editing. Will the industry follow? | The New Food Economy – Sam Bloch

Crispr Fans Fight for Egalitarian Access to Gene Editing | Wired

What we heard at CRISPRCon: talk of designer babies, IP battles, and scientific colonialism | Stat News

The Hope of CRISPRcon: Year 2 | Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog

 

Interested in reading past coverage of CRISPRcon and the conversations it fostered?

CRISPR fans dream of a populist future for gene editing | WIRED

Shakir Cannon, Patient Advocate | The CRISPR Journal

Trust Key to CRISPR Debate | Cornell University Alliance for Science

Food industry vies for public trust in CRISPR gene-editing tech | KPCC

CRISPRcon Explores the Future of Gene Editing | The GWU Food Institute

CRISPR Co-Discoverer: “I’ve Never Seen Science Move at the Pace It’s Moving Now” | Futurism

Summit Peers Intro the Future of Gene Editing | Agri-Pulse

At CRISPRcon, Debating the Promise and Perils of Gene Editing | Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Genome editing CRISPR technique takes center stage | Feedstuffs

CRISPRcon to focus on societal issues of gene editing | Berkley News

Illinois Pig Farmer Shares Perspective on Gene Editing on Animal Agriculture | National Hog Farmer

Hope for a brighter future | The Niche

Stories of CRISPRcon | Innovative Genomics Institute

CRISPRcon is a program of Keystone Policy Center. Keystone is a nationally recognized nonprofit working to bring diverse perspectives to bear in helping leaders, stakeholders, and communities reach common higher ground on society’s most challenging issues. Keystone manages overall development of CRISPRcon programming, planning, and fundraising. Keystone operates under a statement of independence to serve all of its project participants and does not take a position of advocacy on any specific or general use of CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies.

For more information about CRISPRcon, contact us below:

CONTACT