Annual Gold Mass and Lecture for Scientists and Engineers (but all are welcome)
5:15 pm Gold Mass for Scientists and Engineers
Basilica of the Sacred Heart
6:15 pm Reception (light refreshments)
Jordan Hall of Science Galleria
7:15 pm Edison Lecture
105 Jordan Hall of Science
Identical Twinning Untangled
How science resolves the question of the beginning of life
Human life begins at sperm-egg fusion, but how does one resolve the questions raised when a single embryo splits into two (or more) genetically identical human beings? Maureen Condic will present the scientific evidence for when human life begins and when human identical twinning occurs, and will examine the philosophical issues raised by human twinning.
Maureen Condic, Ph.D. is associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah. She is also a member of the U.S. National Science Board and a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Her current research involves the control of human stem cell potency and differentiation. She co-authored a book entitled Human Embryos, Human Beings: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach and recently published Untangling Twinning: What Science Tells Us about the Nature of Human Embryos.
Sponsors: College of Engineering, College of Science, Society of Catholic Scientists Chapter at Notre Dame, McGrath Institute for Church Life and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture.
Learn more about the history of Gold Mass
Originally published at science.nd.edu.