Engineering Away Disease

In a matter of weeks, the Zika virus has gone from being a virtually unknown phenomenon to a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” according to the World Health Organization. And for good reason: The virus — for which there is no treatment — is spreading quickly through the Americas, carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Human development, climate change and droughts will only make mosquitos more widespread, allowing them to carry diseases like dengue and malaria to new places. Around the world, researchers are trying to genetically engineer mosquitoes so that they can’t transmit dangerous viruses. But anyone who has seen “Jurassic Park” knows that a little change to the ecosystem can have serious effects. What might be the consequences of messing with the world’s deadliest animal? Are there other diseases that we may want to engineer away? If so, how should we proceed?

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, join Future Tense in Washington, D.C., for a lunchtime conversation on Zika as a case study in potential technical solutions to deadly diseases.

Not able to make it in person? Follow the discussion online using #FTZika and follow us @FutureTenseNow.

Participants will include Andrew Maynard, Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University, Director of the Risk Innovation Lab, ASU; Kevin Esvelt, Technology Development Fellow, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School; Eleonore Pauwels, Senior Associate and Scholar, Science and Technology Innovation Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Bina Venkataraman, Carnegie Fellow, New America, Director of Global Policy Initiatives, Broad Institute, MIT & Harvard; and, Grace Ostera, Director, Immigrant Health Initiative, Microbiology & Immunology Department, Georgetown University Medical Center. Moderated by Richard Harris, Science Correspondent, National Public Radio (on leave), Visiting Scholar, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Arizona State University.

Future Tense is a partnership of Arizona State University, New America and Slate.

Roxanne Ladd

Office of University Affairs

202-446-0381

roxanne.ladd@asu.edu

https://washingtondc.asu.edu/