Symposia and Conferences
CIRGE frequently sponsors symposia and conferences with leading scholars on the ethical, legal and social issues related to genetic research, including behavioral and neurogenetic research. These symposia and conferences are open to the public and aim to foster dialogue between academic centers and the community at large.
September 26, 2008: Biobanking, Bioethics and the Law
Co-sponsored by the Stanford Journal of Law, Science and Policy and the Stanford Research Compliance Office, this whole day symposium will address the ethical, legal and social implications of the practice of biobanking. Biobanking involves the collection and storage of human tissues and DNA for future experimentation. Some questions that will be addressed include:
- What should be the rights of biobank donors?
- How does biobanking advance science?
- What sorts of regulations should apply to biobanks?
Additional materials:
Event Flyer (PDF)
Symposium Agenda (PDF)
May 9, 2008: Capturing Complexity: the Scientific, Societal, and Ethical Meanings of "Environment" in Genetics Research
This five-hour symposium was divided into five presentation panels, each followed by a brief discussion; the panels then were summed up in a deliberative discussion to end the event. Topics covered included considerations in measuring the environment, how to tease out the interplay between genes and environments, and ethical and policy implications of gene-environment research. Some specific questions contemplated were:
- What sort of causal relationship exists between genotype, environment and phenotype?
- How can we develop measurements to probe the influence of the environment in specific, meaningful ways?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current state of genome-wide association studies, and how can environment be incorporated into these studies?
- What implications do gene-environment interaction studies hold for policy?
Additional materials:
Event Website
Symposium Videos and Transcripts
Nature Precedings Collection
June 6, 2006: Interpreting Complexity: the Scientific and Social Meaning of Behavioral Genetics
During this six-hour event, thirteen panelists presented on, and engaged in a deliberative discussion about, emerging work in behavioral genetics and its impact on society. The panelists came from a wide range of fields -- genetics, psychology, anthropology, law and philosophy. Many questions were considered, including:
- What level of explanation should be used to talk about behavior, and in which domains?
- How is behavior conceptualized and studied?
- What is the dynamic between changing social values and emerging behavioral genetic findings?
Additional materials:
Event website
Press release in The Stanford Report
Nature Precedings Collection
March 30, 2005: Genetics, Neurobiology and Addiction: Where are the Answers?
Co-sponsored by the John S. Knight Fellowships Program, this two-hour public symposium featured a three person panel discussing the grand challenges of addiction research and highlighting the emerging ethical implications of rapidly changing social understandings of addictive behaviors. The panelists addressed such questions as:
- How might a genetic understanding of dependence change our attitudes and policies toward substance abuse?
- If certain individuals, or people with shared ancestry, are identified as being more susceptible to addiction, what should be done with that information?
- What preemptive measures, if any, should be taken to safeguard against the expression of certain negative, potentially damaging behaviors if they are identified in our genetic makeup?
- What role do journalists play in mediating public knowledge of emerging addiction science? What are the responsibilities of scientists in this dialogue?
Additional materials:
Press release in The Stanford Report
Feature article in The Stanford Daily
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