The UCLA Center for Society and Genetics
Fifth Annual Symposium:

Babies by Design:
Redefining Humans?

January 27, 2008
9:30 am – 1:00 pm
UCLA Sunset Village
Covel Commons
Grand Horizon Room
MAP

• Free, Open to the Public
• Sign Language Interpreter Provided
• 2 MCLE (Mandatory Continuing Legal Education) Credit Hours offered. Please ask for paperwork upon arrival.
• Parking $8.00

• What if we could select our children to ensure that they will avoid devastating genetic diseases?
• What if we could select superior musical or athletic ability?
• What if we could select children’s sex?
• What anxieties are raised by these technologies

Technologies for testing embryos allow parents to discover an ever-increasing amount of genetic information, inviting them to select only the best traits for their children.

The UCLA Center for Society and Genetics’ sixth annual symposium Babies by Design: Redefining Humans? will explore the complex choices confronting us. Do we have the right or the obligation to choose the best children? Or does this redefine what it is to be human?

Legal Aspects of Emerging Reproductive Technologies

Streaming Video of Talk

Judith Daar is a Visiting Professor at UCLA Law. She also serves as Professor of Law at Whittier Law School and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California Irvine College of Medicine. Professor Daar teaches courses in Property, Wills & Trusts, Health Law, Bioethics, and Reproductive Technologies. She is a member of the UCI Medical Center Medical Ethics Committee, serving on the Bioethics Consultation Team. Since 1986, Professor Daar has been the chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Bioethics Committee, Subcommittee on Reproductive Issues. Her new casebook entitled “Reproductive Technologies and the Law” was recently published.

Wayne W. Grody, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics at the UCLA School of Medicine. He is the director of the Diagnostic Molecular Pathology Laboratory within the UCLA Medical Center, one of the first such facilities in the country to offer DNA-based tests for diagnosis of a wide variety of genetic, infectious, and neoplastic diseases, as well as bone marrow engraftment, patient specimen identification and paternity testing by DNA fingerprinting. He is also an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics, specializing in the care of patients with or at risk for genetic disorders. In addition, he is heavily involved in basic molecular genetics research involving regulation of gene expression of arginase and related enzymes in hereditary arginase deficiency and various cancers, population molecular genetic screening, and construction of artificial human mutation samples. He has been one of the primary developers of quality assurance and ethical guidelines for DNA-based genetic testing for a number of governmental and professional agencies including the FDA, AMA, CDC, NIH-DOE Human Genome Project (ELSI program). As a sidelight, Dr. Grody has been a technical advisor and sometime writer for a number of feature films, TV movies, and television series including Life Goes On, Chicago Hope, CSI, Medium, Heroes, and both Nutty Professor movies.

The Science of Assisted Reproduction

Streaming Video of Talk

Edward R.B. McCabe, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Human Genetics, and Bioengineering and Applied Science, and Mattel Endowed Executive Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and Physician-in-Chief of the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA. He directs the Pediatric Research, Innovation and Mentoring Experience (PRIME) Program, the UCLA Child Health Research Career Development Award, and the Human and Molecular Development Postdoctoral Training Program. He founded and serves as Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics. He is a member of the Molecular Physiology Interdepartmental Program and the Biomedical Engineering Interdepartmental Program.

Respecting Diversity

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An internationally renowned expert in disability law, Professor Miller joined the faculty in 2004, after spending twelve years in public service in Washington, DC. He was one of the longest serving commissioners of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency which enforces employment discrimination laws. While at the EEOC, Professor Miller spearheaded the development of the agency’s successful mediation program. He has also served as the White House liaison to the disability community and as Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs. Prior to joining the U.S. government, Professor Miller was the director of litigation for the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and taught at the law schools of Loyola University and UCLA.

A Parent’s Perspective

Streaming Video of Talk

Lisa and Jack Nash, parents of a daughter, Molly, with a devastating genetic disorder, proposed using genetic screening to have a second baby whose cord blood could be used to treat Molly’s disease. The Nash’s succeeded in using this technique, thereby choosing traits in one child that could save the life of another.