Myles W. Jackson is Professor of the History of Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He received his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge.
In this lecture, Jackson will discuss the history of science and how it can contribute to the understanding of two controversial aspects of biomedical research: gene patenting and race and genomics. How has gene patenting challenged the content and conduct of scientific research? Does it pose a threat to knowledge sharing? And can someone's "race" be determined by her/his genome? What are the sociopolitical ramifications if it can? And what are they if it cannot? Historians of science can illustrate that neither gene patenting nor basing human classification on race is inevitable: there always have been alternatives.
About the Mather Lecture
The John R. Mather Visiting Scholars Lecture honors the memory of Dr. John "Russ" Mather, Professor of Geography from 1963-2003 and Geography Department Chair from 1966-1989. Dr. Sandra F. Mather established this lectureship to honor her late husband by enabling the department to host well-known scholars for the active exchange of ideas related to Mather's broad interests in climatology and geography among faculty, students, friends and alumni.
