Watch Human Nature: With Jennifer Doudna, Adam Bolt, and Walter Isaacson

Written by: The Exchange

Watch a Special Conversation with Nobel Prize Winner Jennifer Doudna and Filmmaker Adam Bolt, moderated by Author Walter Isaacson.

Science holds the potential to shape our planet and every living thing in it. One of the greatest science stories of a generation culminated in 2020 with Nobel Prizes awarded for the groundbreaking achievement of two women whose discovery of a revolutionary tool called CRISPR allows us to edit genetic code. The extent and impact of this power cannot be overstated. Indeed, it may ultimately prove to be more important than any modern invention that preceded it given that humankind now has the ability to control its own evolution. We are pleased to offer an encore screening of the documentary HUMAN NATURE which tracks the discovery of CRISPR, introduces the scientists who play key roles in this dramatic story, and provides a thought-provoking look at the deep implications of their contributions to this game-changing technology. The talk-back will feature Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna and Human Nature’s award-winning director Adam Bolt, and will be moderated by renowned biographer Walter Isaacson.

Once you RSVP, you’ll receive the film viewing link in the Eventbrite confirmation email. The link will be active from January 12-January 15 at 10AM PST. Please register by January 14th at 12 PM PST/3PM EST to ensure you receive the link.

Speakers:

Adam Bolt edited and co-wrote the Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job, for which he received the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay and was nominated for an American Cinema Editors award for Best Edited Documentary in 2011. He won an Emmy for his work on the Showtime documentary series Years of Living Dangerously. He also directed Alex Gibney’s Park Avenue: Money, Power & The American Dream,
which won a Peabody Award.

Jennifer A. Doudna is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her groundbreaking development of CRISPR-Cas9 as a genome-engineering technology, with collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, earned the two the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and forever changed the course of human and agricultural genomics research.

Walter Isaacson is the Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values at Tulane University. He is the past CEO of the Aspen Institute, and has been the chairman of CNN and the editor of TIME magazine. Subjects of Walter’s biographies include Jennifer Doudna, Steve Jobs, and Einstein. He is a host of the show Amanpour and Company on PBS and CNN, and host of the podcast Trailblazers, from Dell Technologies.


The statements and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the event participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for this event or of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.