Event Calendar
"A Virus's Eye View of Ethics"
~~~
Abstract: Viruses are ubiquitous. They are estimated to be more numerous than anything else in the biological world. Viruses have a powerful impact on human health and disease, life and death. Moreover, they have significantly influenced the course of human history. In addition, viruses provide important metaphors of malevolent forces. Viruses are also simple biological systems that serve as model systems to study many aspects of science and medicine. Can they also inform us about human behavior and ethics? Using viruses as a lens, this talk will discuss ethical issues in the field of human virology. For instance, should be people be allowed to get religious exemptions from vaccination if this practice puts other people at risk for serious infections?
Robert Siegel has many appointments throughout the University. He is affiliated with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the Program in Human Biology, the Center for African Studies, and is co-director of the International Health Scholarly Concentration at the School of Medicine. He is currently involved in medical education and curricular development, especially in the areas of infectious disease, virology, HIV, and molecular biology. Projects include electronic applications to science education, three dimensional model building, service learning, and the development of undergraduate research project
This event is free and open to the public.