Event Description

"The Science and Ethics of Human Cloning" is a Northwestern University public outreach program to help nonscientist students and the general public understand the importance of human cloning research and its possible impact on our society.

A panel of five experts will discuss — in language understandable to nonscientists — the scientific, ethical, and legal issues involved in human cloning.

The panel will address such questions as

• What exactly does cloning humans mean?
• Why are scientists interested in cloning humans?
• To what degree does environment influence human development?
• What is therapeutic cloning? What are its health risks and benefits?
• What are the scientific and ethical arguments for and against cloning?
• Would a law preventing human reproductive cloning interfere with constitutionally guaranteed civil rights?

Schedule of Events (speaker bios can be found here)

9:00 am - Professor Albert Farbman, conference co-organizer

9:05 am - Human Therapeutic Cloning: A Good Reason to Go Forward, Dr. José Cibelli

9:35 am - Lessons Learned from Animal Experiments, Dr. Neal L. First

10:05 am - Mom, Dad, Clone: Law and the Future Family, Lori Andrews

10:35 am - Break

11:00 am - Against the Grain: Can Anything Be Said Now for Human Cloning?, Dr. Gregory Pence

11:30 am - Full Human Cloning: What’s the Point?, Dr. Philip S. Kitcher

12:00 pm - Panel Discussion

12:30 pm - Conclusion

Programmatic Support:

This program is supported by the Klopsteg Lecture Fund, with additional support from the following Northwestern University units: the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology; the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology; the Office of the Dean, Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; the Office of the Dean, Northwestern University Medical School; the Office of the Vice President for Research; the Office of the Vice President for University Development; and the Science in Human Culture Program.

For more information, please contact the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology by phone (847/491-5521) or e-mail at m-kennedy2@northwestern.edu.

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