Promise and Peril of Gene Editing, Sept 28

CRISPR is a new gene-editing tool that may revolutionize the way we think about—and ultimately treat—genetic disorders. For scientists, it is cheap and easy to use, allowing them to do what they've only dreamed of in the past. What if researches could eliminate the gene that causes Huntington's Disease in embryos, and free families from that disease for all future generations? However, some worry that CRISPR has a darker side, affecting genes that influence a child's eye color, skin color, or (possibly) intelligence. This has led some to call for a halt in using CRISPR for some kinds of research, and for others to say that such a moratorium is a thinly veiled "attack on science." Jeff Sheehy looks at both sides of the debate, exploring the potential and the perils of gene editing.

Speaker Jeff Sheehy is director for communications at the UCSF AIDS Research Institute, and a former member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's governing board. A longtime HIV/AIDS and LGBT human rights activist, Jeff served as HIV/AIDS advisor to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Jeff has received the Human Rights Campaign's Leadership Award, the Caped Crusader Award from equality California, and he has been named to OUT magazine's "Out 100" and POZ magazine's "POZ 100."

Jeff Sheehy