David Suzuki lecture for Global Citizenship

I went to see David Suzuki give a lecture at the Chan Centre today, entitled "The Biotech Context". This was the third in a series of high-profile lectures put together by Terry (UBC's online global citizenship magazine). Although I've seen a few of his documentaries and shared a flight to LA with him last year, I haven't actually heard him give a lecture before - which is absurd since he has held a position at UBC since 1963.

In his words, "As a geneticist, I am thrilled and excited with the profound insights and manipulative powers acquired by molecular biologists. I am absolutely sure there will be important applications that will be derived from this technological prowess. However, I also believe it is far too premature to begin to apply these techniques for medical treatments, food; or to condone the release of manipulated organisms into the wild (like salmon or trees). While our acquisition of knowledge has been stunning, biotechnology is an infant field where our technological dexterity has not been matched by our understanding of the complex interactions and interconnections that make an organism and community of organisms what they are. Nor does this knowledge guarantee its confident and ethical use in the arenas of economics or politics. In this talk, I will present my case for the hazards of our current rush to apply this limited knowledge".

Essentially he addressed the social and global responsibilities of scientists, who are all too often distracted from the 'science' behind their work. That is, the imposition of huge biotech corporations, goverment policy makers and funding bodies on the University communities (don't tell me its not true) has taken the emphasis of science away from observing and learning and placed it firmly upon profiteering. The results of this are improperly tested drugs, pesticides, genetically modified farming techniques etc, the effects of which we may not fully understand for many years to come, when its too late to undo the damage. One of the issues that came up in the question period was that the Canadian government (among others) is about to start lobbying at the Convention on Biological Diversity (March 20-31, in Brazil) for commercialisation and widespread testing of terminator seeds for farming, something that will likely devastate the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. More info here.

A video of his lecture should be posted on the Terry website very soon. Highlights included him referring to James Watson (one of the guys who determined the structure of DNA) an asshole, and himself as an old geezer. He struck me as a very ethical and thoroughly interesting person shaped by an eventful childhood. Did you know he and his family was held in an internment camp by the Canadian government in the 1940's simply for being of Japanese extraction (despite being a 3rd generation Canadian citizen) - apparently in retaliation for Pearl Harbour. By the Canadian Government! I was horrified!