Jason Bobe, Sophie Zaaijer, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Daniel Grushkin - Genomics, the collection and interpretation of DNA sequences, has long promised to change the way doctors practice medicine, scientists research disease and the environment, and ultimately the way we understand ourselves. In the past, reading DNA was slow, laborious, and expensive. Reading the first human genome cost $3 billion and took 13 years to complete in 2003. Today, that same genome could be read for roughly $1,000 in a few hours. And a gene sequencer, once a lumbering machine, can now fit into the palm of a hand.

In less than a decade, the practice of genomics has become ubiquitous, and the data sets enormous. Its wide adoption comes barbed with ethical challenges, tensions between scientific progress and individual privacy, and a heritage based in racial discrimination.

Panelists: Jason Bobe, Sophie Zaaijer

Moderator: Heather Dewey-Hagborg

Introduced by: Daniel Grushkin

Presented by: Genspace and Data & Society

ABOUT THE SERIES

The Biotech Futures Talk + Lab Series explores the implications of and ways in which biology is becoming a data science. Each talk is paired with a 3-4 hour lab workshop at Genspace for Data & Society and Genspace community members to demonstrate how these themes become realized in the lab. Lab details to follow.