Anushka Gupta, Yug Marwaha, and Matthew Montgomery

Gene editing means changing a person’s DNA. But some of these changes are passed on to the next generation, who won’t be able to partake in this decision making. So the question arises, who should be taking part in the decision making for the development of Human Gene Editing, and who gets to say the final word? 

On Thursday, October 22, UW Madison will be hosting a free public event,  Engineering Health for the Common Good about gene editing and how it is connected with biology and artificial intelligence. The event starts at 5 PM with a reception, followed by lab tours. At 6 p.m. speaker Susan Monarez, founder of Heartland Global Strategies and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will give a lecture about public health, personalized medicine and safeguards, followed by a panel discussion. The event is at the Discovery Building in Madison, and requires registration to attend. 

AI gene editing can be used by researchers in new ways for treating diseases. Raising concern on the commercial push on the accelerated use of AI and the exclusion of “voices” from elite biotechnology convenings, this symposium aims to carry a “sustained dialogue” on the convergence of Biology and AI.

This event brings together scientists, doctors, engineers, and ethics scholars, disability advocates, faith communities, and patient organizations, to engage in conversations about who should guide the future of gene editing and how the interest of the public can be protected. 

The readers of LLM Lab may be interested in knowing how AI is moving beyond software and becoming a part of other fields including medicine and biology. People should decide what tools will be used for solving what problems. Who has the choice to make such decisions, and how we’re going to decide whether the results are actually helpful for the people.