Press Release

Department of Human Genetics
Eccles Institute of Human Genetics
University of Utah

RELEASE DATE: 5 Sept. 2000

contact:
Connie Barth -- (801) 585-6135
Eccles Institute of Human Genetics

NAPLES, Italy – The implications of the Human Genome Project have touched our lives because they deal with fundamental questions about who we are – an issue where science and religion converge. In Naples, Italy next week, scientists from around the world will gather at the invitation of the Catholic Church to discuss these issues at an international symposium on the Human Genome and in an audience with Pope John Paul II.

Three of the featured speakers at the symposium are faculty members at the University of Utah.

• Mark Leppert, Ph.D., Professor of Human Genetics, will address the topic of "Genes of Idiopathic Epilepsies."
• John Opitz, M.D., Adjunct Professor of Human Genetics and Professor of Pediatrics, will address the topic of "Genes of Human Development and their Disturbances."
• Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, will address the topic of "Genetics Towards the Third Millenium."

Details of the symposium follow. If you are interested in interviewing Drs. Leppert, Opitz, or Capecchi upon their return in late September, please call (801) 585-0538 to schedule.

The following is an excerpt from the symposium’s website:

In the year of the Great Jubilee, at the dawn of the third millenium, more than ever we are called to confront ourselves with those fundamental questions on the origin and destiny of mankind that lay at the botton of every human conscience. Although basically philosophical, these questions have been greatly influenced by the progress of science, especially in the course of the last four centuries, after the advent of the Galilean revolution. The Church, always concerned with the defense of the intrinsic values of each individual, that constitute the essence of the personal dignity, welcomes a reflection on these themes through the events that mark the Jubilee of the University Teachers. The symposium on "THE HUMAN GENOME" touches on especially sensitive issues, ranging from the individual right to protect one's biological and genetic endowment, to the societal choices about cloning, the genetic manipulation of animals and plants, the new techniques of human reproduction.

We have great expectations for this symposium; we expect that its proceedings become a sort of Magna Charta for scientists, ethicists and law makers for the years to come. We wish to extend to all participants a warm welcome and our most heartfelt blessings.

Michele, Card. Giordano
Archibishop of Naples

SCHEDULE:

September 6

KEYNOTE LECTURES

The Human Genome Project -- J.D. Watson, Cold Spring Harbor

Human Variation and Evolution -- L. L. Cavalli-Sforza, Stanford

September 7

LECTURES

Genes of Human Development and their Disturbances -- J.M. Opitz, Salt Lake City

Cancer Genetics -- A. G. Knudson, Jr., Philadelphia

Genes of Idiopathic Epilepsies -- M. Leppert, Salt Lake City

Ageing and Neurodegenerative Diseases -- A. Roses, Research Triangle Park

Predictive Testing -- C.T. Caskey, West Point

Genomics and Perspectives on Gene Therapy -- A. L. Beaudet, Houston

September 8

LECTURES

Who Owns the Human Genome? -- B.M. Knoppers, Montreal

Ethical Issues -- L. Honnefelder, Bonn

Gene Therapy: The Moral Challenges -- T. Engelhardt, Houston

Genetics Towards the Third Millenium -- M. Capecchi, Salt Lake City

September 9

AUDIENCE WITH THE HOLY FATHER

September 10

SOLEMN MASS PRESIDED BY THE HOLY FATHER

Please note: a misprint on the website lists Dr. Mark Keating, Salt Lake City, as a speaker and omits Dr. Mark Leppert’s talk.