Megan Palmer Seminar: Engineering Biology at Social Scales

Swift advances in biological engineering are leaving scientific communities and governments alike struggling to develop governance systems to both promote benefits and mitigate risks. Many recognize that fostering societal responsibility among the rapidly globalizing practitioner community will be critical to ensure a beneficial trajectory. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of frameworks by which to evaluate and implement strategies that promote responsibility in practice. I will discuss the design and evolution of several programs designed to promote societal responsibility in biological engineering, including those created within the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. iGEM is the largest educational program in synthetic biology, now involving hundreds of student teams from dozens of countries across the world every year.

The IGI seminar series features a diverse range of speakers focusing on a variety of topics related to the Institute’s research programs. Following all seminars, attendees are invited to stay for a free lunch and talk with the seminar speaker.

Engineering Biology at Social Scales

Dr. Megan Palmer

Senior Research Scholar, Center for International Security and Cooperation

Stanford University