College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
“The promise and perils of gene-editing might be the most important public debate we haven’t been having widely enough.” This response from Bill Gates to an article on synthetic biology highlights a growing dilemma faced by emerging technologies. “The promise and perils of gene-editing might be the most important public debate we haven’t been having …
The following story was written by Brian Mattmiller of the Morgridge Institute for Research. It has been adapted and republished here. LSC professor Dietram Scheufele leads a panel and LSC chair Dominique Brossard serves as a panelist at an international workshop on genome editing security. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication participated …
Story by Ysabella Bhagroo. Ysabella is an undergraduate student majoring in LSC and the Department of Life Sciences Communication 2017-18 Lenore Landry Scholar. It’s the stuff of science fiction – artificially whitening clouds, injecting reflective particles into the stratosphere, seeding the oceans with iron – all to reverse the escalating consequences of climate change. With …
The following story was written by Caroline Schneider of CALS External Relations. It has been adapted and republished here. In early August 2017, an international team of scientists announced they had successfully edited the DNA of human embryos. As people process the political, moral, and regulatory issues of the technology — which nudges us closer to nonfiction …
Life Sciences Communication professor Dietram Scheufele served on the international committee examining the implications of human gene editing, and their report titled “Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance” was released today, February 14, 2017. Human gene editing is not a new concept, however, with the emergence of CRISPR-Cas9, scientists are able to alter genes more efficiently …
Story by Sarah Krier. Sarah is an undergraduate student majoring in LSC and the Department of Life Sciences Communication 2016-17 Lenore Landry Scholar Populations of the Hawaiian honeycreeper, a colorful bird native to Hawaii, struggle to survive due to bird malaria transmitted by non-native mosquitos. Gene-editing and de-extinction techniques could offer promising avenues for adapting …
LSC chair and professor Dominique Brossard served as a committee member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s latest study on the impacts of genetically engineered crops. The 20 expert committee investigated the potential economic, agronomic, health, safety, and other impacts of genetically engineered crops and food. The committee’s report, ‘Genetically Engineered Crops: …
Dietram Scheufele, professor of life sciences communication at UW–Madison and Morgridge Institute for Research affiliate, will serve on a national panel examining the implications of human genome editing. The committee, announced Nov. 12 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, will examine the clinical, ethical, legal and social implications of the emerging technology. Genome …
LSC doctoral student Kristin K. Runge and a team of Life Sciences Communication researchers have research on nanotechnology Twitter traffic in the January 2013 issue of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. The study, “Tweeting nano: how public discourses about nanotechnology develop in social media environments,” mapped social media traffic about nanotechnology, finding that Twitter traffic expressing opinion about nanotechnology is …
In an article in Science and Public Policy, LSC alumni Pete Ladwig (M.S., ’11) and Kajsa E. Dalrymple (Ph.D., ’11), now assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, along with LSC faculty members Dominique Brossard and Dietram A. Scheufele, as well as Elizabeth A. Corley, of the Center of Nanotechnology and Society and the …