meetings

Amy Gutmann:

Could everyone sit down, please, so we can get started? Thank you.

 

Jim Wagner:

Good afternoon. Owing to what I think people understand as perhaps the inevitable impact on person, there are a number of philosophical and religious issues attendant to how we go forward in synthetic biology. This session is to try to begin to address some of those head on, inviting our experts to share with us. And again we’ll cover the same format. We will use time following your three presentations for the panel and also members of the audience to address some questions.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to start. If you would all take your seats, please. Welcome back for those of you who were here this morning, and those of you who are new, welcome to what has been to this time at least — and I’m sure will continue to be a very interesting and engaging set of discussions.

 

Could we have our speakers come to the table. And if others could take their chairs, we’ll get under way. Thank you.

 

Commission members, we need you as well, actually. I see them filtering up. I saw Nita out there. And there’s Bonnie in the back of the room.

 

So that there is ample time for our speakers to present and for us to ask questions, let’s do get under way.

 

Our first speaker is Dr. Drew Endy. He is an Assistant Professor of Bio-Engineering at Stanford University. Dr. Endy is the director of BIOFAB, an open facility advancing biotechnology and he is the President of the BioBricks Foundation as well as being a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. Dr. Endy, we are happy to have you here with us today. Why don’t you begin?