September 14, 2000
RELEASE ON RECEIPT

OBERLIN FACULTY TO DISCUSS HUMAN GENOME PROJECT & IMPLICATIONS

Panel Discussion:
"The Human Genome Project and Its Implications."

7 p.m.
Wed., September 27

Room 306, King Building
120 W. Lorain St.

Free public event

For more information
please call 440/775-8325.

Media Contact::

Betty.Gabrieli@oberlin.edu

http://www.oberlin.edu.

OBERLIN, OH--The Human Genome Project and its biological, medical, ethical, and economic implications will be examined by seven members of the Oberlin faculty in a public discussion to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 27 at the College.

The panelists are Dennis Luck and Yolanda Cruz (biology), David Love and Al MacKay (philosophy), Norman Henderson (psychology), Joyce McClure, (religion), and Greg Hess (economics).

The recent completion of an initial sequencing of the human genome--the genetic blueprint for human beings--promises to lead to a new era of molecular medicine, an era that will bring new ways to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure disease.

"The project is unprecedented in its potential impact on the lives and health of people everywhere--even persons who are now dead and who are yet to be," says Cruz, who is professor and chair of the biology department.

"The medical, biological, ethical, behavioral, and economic implications are just being explored, even by experts themselves," she points out. "Persons unfamiliar with the technical aspects of investigating genomes will have difficulty understanding the new knowledge that the genome project will bring."

"Those who are to participate in making decisions as to how this project will affect human lives will need to have as much accurate information as possible. The panel members hope that this discussion will help provide a sound understanding of the gene-sequencing effort."

Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli 9/14/00 #17 bg