Consider this scenario: Commercial DNA testing kits are easy to use. You spit in a tube, pop it in the mail and in a few short weeks, you learn what countries hold your ancestral roots.
But what are the legal theories of ownership that shape and have been shaped by this genetic information? In the age of these easy-to-access commercial DNA testing kits, these legal theories have become particularly relevant now that private genomics companies are selling datasets containing this genetic information and the companies acquiring this data include drug manufacturers. How secure is this information? Should we be concerned about where and how our genetic information is used? What could go wrong?
Myles Jackson
The Distinguished History of Science Lecture at York University, which takes place Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m., seeks to consider these questions. Princeton University Professor Myles Jackson will deliver the lecture, and, in his remarks, he will consider the legalities of who exactly owns an individual’s genetic information. Jackson, who is an internationally renowned historian of science, is currently a professor of the history of science at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study. An eminent and authoritative explorer of the intersections between science, technology, aesthetics and society, Jackson’s scholarship interweaves economic, commercial, and scientific insights and his inquires span the depth and breadth of molecular science, physics, intellectual property and privacy issues.
The Distinguished History of Science Lecture will take place in Room 010 Vanier College. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome.
The lecture is made possible through the generous sponsorship provided by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and the Department of Humanities (LA&PS).