FREE PUBLIC EVENT: The CSCA presents a lecture by Emeritus Prof. Keith Fox. Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Southampton U.K., where his research group investigates the structure of DNA and how it might be modified.
Human Genome Modification: Should Scientists Be Allowed to Change Our Genes?
Recent scientific advances enable us to manipulate (edit) our genomes with the potential for preventing or curing some genetic diseases. This may seem like an exciting prospect, but it raises questions about what is ‘normal’, what it means to be human, and how we treat those who have disabilities. Is this a part of the God-given arsenal of techniques for alleviating human suffering or is it ‘playing God’ and the ‘slippery slope’ to the production of ‘designer babies’? What are the boundaries between normal variation and disability and what does it say about the dignity and worth of those who live with genetically inherited conditions?
Keith R. Fox is Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry in Southampton University and was Associate Director and then Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge (2015-2021). He studied Natural Sciences in Cambridge, specialising in Biochemistry, where he completed a PhD in the Department of Pharmacology in 1980. He moved to Southampton in 1987 as a lecturer in Biochemistry and Pharmacology and became Professor of Biochemistry in 2000. His research interests concern DNA structure and its recognition, and his scientific work has been published in over 200 papers and articles. He was Senior Editor of Nucleic Acids Research from 2008-2021. He is a former Chair and Trustee of Christians in Science and is Editor of Science & Christian Belief. He is a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England. His book with Alexander Massmann Modifying Our Genes: Theology, Science and ‘Playing God’ was published by SCM Press in March 2021.