The announcement in 2012 that a natural phenomenon called CRISPR/Cas9 could be used as a kind of “precision gene editor” has a lot of people thinking. Exactly what does "gene editing" involve? What can be done right now in big labs? What about in your basement? Harvard Medical School professor George Church argued that “garage biologists” should be required to have a license to practice synthetic biology, but right now it’s a kind of Wild West out there. Sound familiar? We survived all those 1980s Commodore 64 computer hacking pranks and learned a lot from them. Then again, they didn’t involve E. coli and the possibility of mass annihilation. This presentation sorts out the biofacts from the biofiction, and suggests how DIY biology fans can use CRISPR/Cas9 to help make things better for themselves and the world.
Dr. Thomas P. Keenan worked as a Systems Programmer on some of the earliest mainframe and timesharing systems, and cracked his first computer mischief case, “The Missionary Unmasker”, in 1973. He was educated at Columbia University, receiving BA, M.Sc., MA and Ed.D. degrees in Philosophy, Mathematics, Engineering and Education and is a popular professor of Environmental Design and Computer Science at the University of Calgary. As a busy and adventurous tech journalist, he scrubbed in on an organ transplant operation in Belgium, held Anthrax spores at Canadian Forces Base Suffield, and defused an IED in Afghanistan. Tom taught Canada’s first computer crime course, in 1974, and was involved in drafting that country’s inaugural computer crime legislation. He has been an expert witness in civil and criminal cases involving technology, computer fraud, and claimed online defamation. He is the author of over 500 academic papers, book chapters, presentations and articles, and has spoken on five continents and won major honors and prizes including the $10,000 NSERC Award for Science Promotion. His 2014 book, Technocreep, dissects how technology is becoming creepy in hidden ways that are difficult for most people to understand. It has recently appeared in the top ten on Amazon.ca in categories including Civil Rights and Liberties, Technology & Society, and Social Aspects of Technology.