[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/silver_lee.jpg” caption=”Princeton’s Lee Silver will deliver this year’s Bourns Lecture. File photo. “]He's clashed with Stephen Colbert, chatted with Charlie Rose and talked to TIME magazine about genetic engineering. Lee Silver has appeared in all matter of media, but on Wednesday night (November 26) the Princeton professor will be in our city to deliver this year's Bourns Lecture in Bioethics titled, “Challenging nature: genetic engineering, cloning and the future of the human species.”

Silver's talk will offer a provocative look at the collision of science, religion, pseudoscience and politics in the world of biotechnology, where stem cell research, genetic engineering and cloning have challenged how we think about human life, medicine, disease and aging.

This multimedia lecture will examine the principles and potential applications of the genetic technologies that have caused controversy and a fundamental conflict between science and spirituality. Following the lecture, Silver will be joined by two McMaster researchers for what promises to be a lively and thought-provoking panel discussion moderated by Allison Sekuler, associate vice-president and dean of Graduate Studies.

Our researchers – Lisa Schwartz, the Arnold L. Johnson Chair in Health Care Ethics and associate professor in the Department of Clinical Eepidemiology and Biostatistics; and Laurie Doering, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine – will offer the perspective of two Canadian-based scientists whose respective research interests in health care ethics and stem cell therapies will provide the audience with what promises to be a memorable evening.

The lecture and panel discussion will take place in The Hamilton Spectator Auditorium, 44 Frid Street in Hamilton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7 p.m. While the lecture is free and all are welcome, seating is limited, so please e-mail sciencecity@mcmaster.ca or call 905-525-9140, ext. 24934 to reserve your seat(s).

This is the second Bourns Lecture in Bioethics, made possible by Arthur Bourns – former President and professor emeritus – whose generous gift enables the university to invite a distinguished expert in the field of bioethics to present a public lecture to the community at large every two years.