时间 ：2009年3月30日（周一）12：00-13：00

地点 ： 清华大学公共管理学院302会议室

主讲人：John Sulston 博士

                 2002年诺贝尔生理学和医学奖得主、英国皇家学会会员

曼彻斯特大学科学伦理与创新研究中心主任

主持人：薛澜教授   清华大学中国科技政策研究中心主任、清华大学公共管理学院院长

主讲人简介：

John Sulston, FRS, graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1963, took a PhD in 1966, and was then a postdoctoral researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 1969 he moved to Sydney Brenner's group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. There he worked on the biology of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, studying particularly its cell lineage and its genome. A collaboration between his group and that of Bob Waterston (Washington University, St Louis) produced one of the earliest genome maps, and in 1990 they went on to sequence it, completing the task in 1998 - the first animal genome to be sequenced. Concurrently he became involved in the Human Genome Project, as founder director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute from 1992 to 2000. In 2002 he co-authored with Georgina Ferry TheCommon Thread, an account of the science, politics and ethics of this enterprise. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002. He has been acting chair of the UK Human Genetics Commission, and is currentlychair of the institute for Science Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester.

主题内容：
At iSEI we are interested in the changing ways in which the results of science are owned and controlled, and the effects that this has on scientific practice.  It is obvious that the goods of science are not shared equitably, but the question is whether we can and should do anything about it.  The life sciences provide some compelling case studies.

During the last half century, since the discovery of the key molecular principles of life, biology has grown from a largely academic discipline into one of great social and industrial value.  This shift has brought obvious benefits in terms of investment, but has also brought the need to balance profitability with the demands of social justice.

One example is the handling of human genetic information.  The sequencing of the human genome for the first time was a triumph, but famously was accompanied by controversy over the extent to which the results would be made publicly available.  Now the sequencing of individual genomes is becoming commonplace, and fresh issues arise over privacy and human rights.

A second example is global medicine, which is of pressing significance for humanity's collective future.  In poor countries neglected diseases are rife, and in all countries sufferers from rare diseases are disadvantaged, because most research and development is resourced by investment aimed at maximising financial return.  New funding mechanisms are needed to ensure that everyone benefits from advances in knowledge, and that we progress towards global healthcare.

The ownership of science has many far-reaching consequences.  It will affect our ability to cooperate in overcoming resource limitations, climate change, food and water supply.  If we persist in using science and technology in purely competitive ways it is hard to see how humanity can survive at all.  On the other hand, if we cooperate our future is assured.