2010 Detailed Program

Click on the session titles to see descriptions, presenters and key documents.

For an overview version of the program click here.

For a description of participant and presenter roles click here.
 

TUESDAY 27 July 2010

TIME TITLE

10:00 - 2:00

Pre-meetings and registration

2:00

MEETING BEGINS

2:00 - 2:35

Welcome, Overview, Stage-Setters (35 min)

Welcome and Overview: Marcy Darnovsky
Reflections:

2:35 - 3:50

GROUNDING OUR CONCERN (1 hr 15 min)

Why do we really care about technologies that can radically transform human biology?

Of all the technologies and practices The Tarrytown Meetings addressed, those that would give us the power to radically alter the biological makeup of future generations raise some of the most fundamental concerns. But different people ground these concerns in different ways: in the need to ensure health and safety; in commitments to social justice, equity and the common good; in human rights and human dignity; in a commitment to fully informed democratic governance of powerful technologies, especially when these are otherwise driven by market forces; in the need for precaution in the face of new technologies of potentially great consequence; in the giftedness of human life, the "yuck factor," and "factor X"; and in theological commitments. In what ways do these and other grounds for our concerns allow us to agree on practices, policies and strategies, and in what ways might they work to divide rather than unite us? Are there grounds for our concerns that are yet to be fully discerned and articulated, and that might resonate deeply with large numbers of people?

Introduction: Marcy Darnovsky
Reflections:

Table discussions

4:05 - 5:20

SOCIETY AND POLITICS (1 hr 15 min)

In what ways does the advent of new human biotechnologies, and the need to adopt new policies, challenge conventional social and political worldviews and alignments?

Perspectives on matters related to new human biotechnologies often fail to align neatly with conventional political and ideological categories. Why is this, and what challenges and opportunities does it present? What kinds of political rethinking might be called for, across the board? Can we transcend the polarized worldviews that for some time have framed public debate regarding human reproductive practices, and have lately extended to broader debates about science, technology, society, and the meaning of "progress"? How can we open the public sphere to concerns about the ways in which human biotechnology and related technologies might undermine the common good and our sense of sharing a common human future, while ensuring individual rights?

Introduction: Osagie Obasogie
Reflections:

 

Table Discussions

5:20 - 6:00

Break; pre-dinner refreshments

6:00 - 6:45

INTERGENERATIONAL CHALLENGES (45 min)

How do different generations experience and engage new human biotechnologies?

The several generations alive today have had and will continue to have divergent experiences regarding human genetic and reproductive technologies. What are the key generational differences regarding encounters with and perspectives on these technologies - and technology in general? How do these differences inform ideas about families, identities, privacy and regulation? How do other issues, including environmental protection, economic well-being, global peace, reproductive rights and human rights, intersect with various generations' concerns about human biotechnologies? And what values and concerns are held in common regardless of generational differences?

Introduction: Judy Norsigian
Moderator: Ruha Benjamin
Discussants:

6:45

Dinner

WEDNESDAY 28 July 2010

TIME TITLE

7:30 - 9:00

Breakfast

9:00 - 9:40

Welcome, Reflections, Discussion (40 min)

Welcome to Day Two: Osagie Obasogie
Reflections:

9:40 - 10:20

POLICY AND STRATEGY (40 min)
What policies will ultimately be needed? What do we focus on in the near and middle term? What challenges and opportunities do we face?

New and powerful human biotechnologies are being developed and promoted at a rapid rate. Oversight and regulatory policies that would allow consideration of the full social implications of these technologies prior to their development and use are either typically nonexistent or woefully inadequate. Conflicts of interest pervade the biomedical research community, with scientists increasingly working at the behest of private corporations and serving as principals in commercial enterprises. So what is to be done? What policies will ultimately be needed, at both domestic and international levels, to ensure that the common good is served rather than undermined? What particular issues are both important in themselves and strategically useful to focus on in the near and middle terms? What initiatives might be undertaken now to address these issues, including educational, legislative, legal, constituency outreach or other initiatives?

Introduction: Marcy Darnovsky
Reflections:

Instructions for break-out discussions

10:20 - 10:30

Break; move to assigned breakout discussion rooms (10 min)

10:30 - 12:00

Policy and Strategy: Breakout Sessions (1 hr 30)
Seven moderated breakout sessions to share perspectives and opinions regarding the topic questions.

12:00 - 1:00

Lunch (60 min)

1:00 - 2:30

 

WORKING SESSIONS I

Reproductive and Genetic Tourism
Religious Engagement and Moral Discourse
Communicating about Human Biotechnologies and Biopolitics
Grounding Our Concerns / Society and Politics
Current Controversies: Gene Tests, Gene Patents, Gene Databases

2:30 - 2:45

Break (15 min)

2:45 - 4:15

 

WORKING SESSIONS II

Foundational Principles for Global Policy
Genetics and Racial Justice
Inside the Beltway and the Statehouses
Exploring our Differences about Reproductive and Genetic Technologies

4:15 - 6:15

Open time (2 hr)
4:30: The Next Generation of Leadership

6:15 - 7:45

Dinner and Dinner reflections
Introductions: Judy Norsigian
Reflections:

8:00

Special Preview! Excerpts from forthcoming film Genomania: The Century of the Gene
Presenter: Andrew Kimbrell

THURSDAY 29 July 2010

TIME TITLE

7:00 - 8:45

Breakfast

8:45 - 10:15

 

WORKING SESSIONS III (1 hr 30 min)

Emerging and Converging Technologies and Applications
The Political Economy of Human Biotechnologies: Commercial and Corporate Influences on Practice and Policy
Changing and Problematic Aspects of Biomedical Research

What Role for Government in Regulating Assisted Reproduction?

 10:15 - 11:30

Open time (1 hr 15 min)

11:30 - 12:45

Concluding Session: Reports, Plans, Reflections (1 hr 15 min)

Reports on Initiatives
Next Steps for the Tarrytown Meetings
Final Reflections

Final comments from the assembly
Closing thanks and appreciations; adjournment

12:45

MEETING ENDS

12:45 - 1:30

Lunch (bag lunches available)

1:00 - 5:00

Meeting rooms available for post-meeting sessions and networking