Conversations on Science, Society and the Future of Gene Editing

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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (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.

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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.