Time Magazine Future of Life Summit

Feb. 19-21, 2003 in Monterey, CA

Innovators at the vanguard of science and industry will interact with ethicists, religious leaders, activists, academics, journalists and venture capitalists, for a provocative dialogue about biotechnology and its implications. More than 300 participants are expected at this first conference hosted by TIME magazine's Managing Editor Jim Kelly and President Eileen Naughton. The event is open to the public (registration fee $1,950, go to http://www.thefutureoflife.com).

"Fifty years ago Sir Francis Crick and James D. Watson made what may be the most important scientific breakthrough of the 20th century," says Naughton. "Today their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule affects every facet of life on the planet." TIME's cover story this week (on newsstands the week of Feb. 10) is "Solving the Mysteries of DNA." Watson tells TIME that in 1953 the breakthrough was met with "Almost total silence…That's one reason we didn't get the Nobel for nine years." To read this cover story online, go to: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030217/

Distinguished speakers include two Nobel laureates: Dr. James Watson, President of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Hamilton Smith, Scientific Director, Institute for Bioenergy Alternatives (IBEA). Also speaking are gene mappers Francis S. Collins, Director, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health and J. Craig Venter, President and Chairman, J. Craig Venter Science Foundation.

The U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, is one of 60 speakers, as well as Paul Gelsinger, who has worked to increase awareness since his 18-year-old son, Jesse, died in a gene therapy experiment in 1999. Highlights of the agenda, posted at the website,http://www.thefutureoflife.com, includes:

INTERVIEW with James Watson on what genomics enables us to do today, and what's in store for tomorrow, conducted by Robert Krulwich, ABC News correspondent and host of the acclaimed PBS-NOVA special, "Cracking the Code" Medicine and Space with James Logan, chief of medical informatics, NASA

Extending Your Lifespan with Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil Technologies, Bill Joy, Sun Microsystems, Baroness Susan Greenfield, Royal Institution of Great Britain

Cloning and Gene Therapy with Dean Hamer of The National Cancer Institute

Making Money: The Genetics Goldmine with Juan Enriquez, Harvard School of Business, Caroline A. Kovac, IBM Life Sciences; May-Ho Kim, Goldman Sachs

When Morality and Science Collide -- Stem Cell Research with Michael Kinsley, journalist and TIME contributor; Alfonso Gomez-Lobo, Georgetown Univ. and The President's Council on Bioethics; Dr. Wise Young, a specialist in spinal cord injury involved in the treatment of actor Christopher Reeves, and others

Privacy: Who Decides on Access to Your Genetic Makeup: Bartha Koppers, Univ. of Montreal; Edison Liu, Genome Institute, Singapore; Catherine Crier, Court TV, and others.

The Politics of Genetically Modified Food with Thomas Lovejoy, Heinz Center; Edward O. Wilson, Harvard and others.

Ten high school science teachers from around the U.S. will attend and participate, through TIME magazine's "21st Century Literacy Fellowship" program. The teachers were selected at the recommendation of Science Service, which administers the Intel Science Talent Search, America's oldest and most prestigious science competition. The fellowship is funded by the AOL Time Warner Foundation. A webcast session, "How Current Are Our Classrooms," will include two of the teachers, as well as author Richard Dawkins, a professor at Oxford, Francis Collins of the NIH. The moderator is Robert Semper, executive associate director of the Exploratorium. The session will be videotaped and broadcast on starting Feb. 26 on two websites: www.thefutureoflife/media.htm and www.exploratorium.edu/coldspring. To request a videotape, contact the TIME Classroom Program, [email protected].

The Future of Life Summit hosted by TIME magazine is produced with the Van Heyst Group of Boulder, CO, a leading producer of senior-level management symposia and summits featuring U.S. and international presidents, heads of state and global CEOs. For more information, call 1-877-860-7697, or go to http://www.thefutureoflife.com.

Daily reports on the summit will be available on TIME.com, by journalist Frederic Golden, from Weds., Feb. 19-21. To sign up for a daily email, just a message, SUBJECT: DAILY EMAIL, to [email protected]. URLs and scheduled posting times are as follows:

Books by speakers are available online in a special Amazon bookstore located at http://www.thefutureoflife.com/books.html