BBC4 Science Presenter And Geneticist, Adam Rutherford, to Chair Public Discussions on Genetics

Dr Adam Rutherford is visiting New Zealand to chair a series of public panel discussions on the burgeoning field of genetics, which is going to affect all of us. He will be joined by New Zealand’s top scientists and thinkers in this area, at public events in Wellington (12 and 13 March), Christchurch (15 March), Dunedin (17 March), Tauranga (21 March) and Auckland (22 March). His first engagement is in Wellington, as guest of the Wellington International Festival Writers and Readers Week. Details at www.royalsociety.org.nz/genie. The Gene Genie series will be recorded for broadcast by RNZ.

Background to the Gene Genie Series
The cost of gene sequencing is dropping even faster than Moore’s Law, halving every four months. And the new technique of Massively Parallel Sequencing is vastly increasing the amount of genetic information that we can collect. Soon, we’ll all have our DNA routinely sequenced and analysed for various characteristics. Paternity secrets will be impossible to keep!

Genomics is now the HOT research topic in biology and medicine, and promises much. Even the genome of our closest relative, the Neanderthal, has now been sequenced. We know exactly which bits we have inherited from interbreeding with them, and what they code for, including Diabetes Type 2, Lupus, addictive behaviour, Crohn’s Disease, and on the plus side, stronger skin and hair.

Women with mutations in the BRCA 1 & 2 genes now have the chance to prevent breast and ovarian cancer. New flu strains, and plant diseases such as PSA, which cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars, are quickly sequenced to find out what we’re dealing with and how they can be treated … speed is of the essence. Using genomics, New Zealand researchers were able to track down the major source of campylobacter infected chicken, which was responsible for 40% of human infections. A new study underway will identify the genes that predispose people to eat too much.

It sounds like we already know a lot about our genetic make-up, but still, a large part of the human genome remains “dark matter”. Our 21,000 genes constitute a mere 1.5% of our genome. The rest is not redundant junk as previously thought, but includes the DNA that controls and determines which genes are switched on and off and orchestrates their behaviour. Breaking the WWII German Enigma Code is nothing to the bioinformatic challenge before us. But it’s just a matter of time when thousands, if not tens of thousands, of scientists are working on the problem.

What potentials and challenges will this present us with when we inevitably decipher the genome? What will the implications be for health, agriculture, species restoration, justice, education, love, reproduction, and perhaps even human survival?

More information about Dr Adam Rutherford

As the presenter of the BBC flagship science show Inside Science, Dr Adam Rutherford has explored responses to some of our world’s most pressing scientific questions. His academic background is in genetics and evolutionary biology, and his book Creation: The Origin of Life/The Future of Life was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize.

Rutherford, a long-time editor of Nature magazine, has created several TV series and has been a science advisor on Björk’s movie Biophilia Live, World War Z, Ex Machina and the kids’ cartoon The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. He has appeared in several science documentaries, and, along with Richard Dawkins (also a guest at the New Zealand Festival’s Writers Week), contributed to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas.

Adam’s tour is co-organised by:
Royal Society of New Zealand, Creative Science Communications and the New Zealand Festival Writers and Readers Week

Adam’s tour is co-sponsored by:
Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, Genetics Otago, The MedTech CoRE, NZ Genomics Ltd and Te Pūnaha Matatini

ENDS

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