Public lecture discusses genetic engineering controversy

A free public lecture at The University of Queensland will debate the genetic engineering boom. Is genetic technology developing too fast without considering the social and environmental consequences?

Dr Richard Hindmarsh from the University’s Contemporary Studies Program will speak on Thursday, October 17 at 5.30pm in Mayne Hall Foyer, St Lucia campus (opposite Forgan Smith Building). Refreshments will follow.

Biotechnology hype is sidelining environmental and social impacts, he says. Society needs to address this imbalance and improve approaches to decision-making and the adoption of mega-technological change.

“Public debate worldwide has been muted, while the genie is being let out of the bottle,” Dr Hindmarsh said.

Dr Hindmarsh’s teaching and research focuses on the social and cultural intersection of science, technology, and nature. His co-edited and authored anthology Altered Genes has become the standard critical text on genetic engineering in Australia.

He is writing a history of the genetic engineering controversy in Australia and working with a cohort of emerging writers on an anthology titled Recoding Nature: Critical Perspectives on Genetic Engineering.

The Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies’ 2002 lecture program, supported by UQ Press, promotes arts and humanities research and showcases the diverse current research under way in the fields of critical and cultural studies.

Media: For further information, contact Dr Richard Hindmarsh (telephone 07 3381 1569 or 07 3411 7718, email r.hindmarsh@uq.edu.au), Andrea Mitchell (telephone 07 3365 7182, email a.mitchell@uq.edu.au) or Elizabeth Kerr at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 7045).