#303 Genomics: The promise & peril of reading our DNA 🗓
With Dr Christopher Willmott
The ability to read the DNA of humans, and other species, is radically altering healthcare offering, for example, more accurate diagnosis and prognosis, with the potential for more targeted “personalised” treatment.
Elsewhere, the availability of “at home” DNA tests, such as those marketed by 23andMe and Ancestry, are revealing previously unknown details of family history and heritage.
Having reviewed some of these uses, this talk will reflect on many of the ethical implications that emerge from these developments.
Further resources:
- Where Science and Ethics Meet: Dilemmas at the Frontiers of Medicine and Biology by Chris Willmott Salvador Macip
- Journal of the left-handed biochemist - Chris' blog
- Bioethics: a look into the future - Genomics and ethics
- Genomics is here: what can we do with it, and what ethical issues has it brought along for the ride? by Chris Willmott & John Bryant
- Who Do You Think You Are?: Reflections on direct-to-consumer genetic testing
- Webinar #109 Eugenics and heritable genome editing with Dr Calum MacKellar
- Look out for Dr Chris' new book coming soon
Dr Christopher Willmott
Having completed a PhD on the molecular basis of resistance to antibacterials, Chris spent four years as a Staffworker with UCCF (the IFES movement in the UK). In 2000, he returned to the University of Leicester where he taught biochemistry and, increasingly, about the ethical implications of developments in biomedicine. Since retirement (2022), he has continued to have an active interest in bioethics and his book on Genomics and Ethics is currently with the publishers for review.