
November 2003 From European Molecular Biology Laboratory Invitation to press lunch Speakers at the press conference will be:Ludger Honnefelder, Head of the Department of Biomedical Ethics, Institute for Science and Ethics, University of Bonn, Germany Hans Lehrach, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany and Member of the project committee of the German National Genome Research Network (Deutsche Nationalen Genomforschungsnetz) Andrew Moore, EMBO Science and Society Programme Manager, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Heidelberg, Germany Steven Rose, UCL, Visiting Professor, and Director of Brain and Behaviour Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, The Open University, UK If you would like to attend kindly send us an email giving your full contact details (media company, name, address, telephone and fax numbers) to [email protected] by November 12th. Background: With the sequencing of the complete human genome and the development of gene banks, scientists and medics have an unprecedented amount and quality of information at their disposal. By their very nature, some applications of this information lie at the delicate boundary between medicine and the directed improvement of human beings. But it is not only in medicine that genetic information has found a use; in many areas of the information society, for example in law and justice, in security and insurance it promises - or sometimes threatens - to be of great utility. As a society we must, therefore, ask ourselves important questions as to how genetic information is obtained, stored and used, such that the potentially enormous benefits can be reaped. This very powerful information should be used in a way that is acceptable to all individuals, as well as to society as a whole. The most important parts of the equation are dialogue and understanding between the huge diversity of stakeholders in these developments. The tradition of this conference is to promote closer relations between scientists and other members of society who are interested in discussing the social impact and relevance of the research and applications at the forefront of molecular biology. A detailed programme and access to free registration for the conference is available at: http://www.embo.org/projects/scisoc/scisoc2003.html Contact: Ellen Peerenboom (PhD) EMBO Press & Public Relations Officer Communication & Web Postfach 102240 D69012 Heidelberg Tel: 0049-6221-8891-108 Fax: 0049-6221-8891-200 [email protected] www.embo.org |