Engineering the World Around Us at Edward Smith Library – Northford, CT

Advances in genetic technologies are accompanied by questions for society about if, where, and how to apply these tools. A new generation of genetic tools has opened a pathway to engineering the world around us to potentially improve human health, agriculture, and the environment. In this program, we focus on three potential uses of genetic engineering tools with the goal of (1) reducing food toxicity, (2) modifying disease-carrying insects to preserve an endangered species, and (3) reviving an extinct animal – the woolly mammoth – to possibly aid in slowing permafrost thawing. Each scenario, drawing on current research, raises a variety of complex ethical, environmental, and scientific conundrums for participants to consider.