The first synthetic virus self-replicated in 2002. Its DNA molecules were created in a laboratory, using genetic information copied from nature. In 2016 an international project, the Human Genome Project - Write, was launched to synthesise and recode entire human genomes. Join a panel to discuss biosecurity and ethics, science fiction, practical limits and possible futures related to our species.

Marianne Talbot is a bioethicist and Director of Studies in Philosophy at the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education.

Piers Millett is a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, where he focuses on pandemic and deliberate disease and the implications of biotechnology.

Justina Robson is a science fiction author. Her novel Natural History, was reviewed by The Guardian: “clarity of vision now demonstrates itself as her major asset, making her one of the very best of the new British hard SF writers.”

Robert Smith is a sociologist of science and technology. His work explores the social and ethical dimensions of the biosciences, primarily in relation to science policy, research funding and laboratory science.

Max Jamilly is a synthetic biologist interested in synthetic genetics and engineered epigenetics, with plans to pursue a career in the synthetic biology startup sector.