Henry S. Thompson

Signing Chimps, Dancing Bees and Babbling Babies: The Nature of Language and Human Nature

Henry S. Thompson divides his time between the Division of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, where he teaches and leads research on Data-Intensive Linguistics, Language Resources and Grammatical Theory, and the World Wide Web Consortium, where he helps develop international standards that bind the Web together and make it useful.

Professor David Porteous

Gene Medicine

A major focus of David’s work is the application of knowledge emerging from the Human Genome Project to the identification of risk factors, disease processes and new treatments for common disorders prevalent in the Scottish population. Professor Porteous is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institute of Biologists, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an Honorary Member of the Association of Physicians in Great Britain & Ireland.

In and Out of the Law

In the opposition between law and love, there has been for too long concentration on the Thanatos of law; of law as the restraining, civilising force that is necessary to hold in check the Eros of love, the love central to our contingent, passionate natures. Prof. Bankowski redresses the balance - but in so doing does not cast law aside. For we must not forget that love is dangerous, and we can only approach it with caution - embracing it wholeheartedly can kill us. So though 'law' and 'love' feature centrally in talk, they will not be seen as opposed. In going beyond this opposition, Prof. Bankowski wants to see how an ethical life and a society under law might be related.

Professor Sir David Lane

Curing Cancer

Professor Sir David Lane is the Director of the Cancer Research UK Transformation Research Group at the University of Dundee, where he leads a research team studying Human Tumour suppressor gene function. Sir David has published more than 250 research articles and is internationally recognised for his original discovery of the p53 protein SV40 T antigen complex and for his many subsequent contributions to the field. Sir David is well known for speaking to non-specialist groups and for his clarifying reviews, of which his commentary “p53, guardian of the genome “ published in Nature, is a key example. Sir David was the second most highly cited Medical Scientist in the UK in the last decade. David Lane was knighted for his contribution to cancer research in the New Year honours list in January 2000.

Simon completed his MBA at the London Business School in 1985, and then joined ICI Agrochemicals. In 1992, he was appointed CEO of Zeneca Plant Sciences and in 1996 was responsible for the first launch of GM food in Europe. He joined Roslin Bio-Med as the founding CEO in 1998, and in 1999 spearheaded its merger with Geron. He founded Ardana Bioscience in July 2000 based in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Simon is currently the Chairman of the BioIndustry Association in Scotland (BIA-Scotland). He was also the Vice-Chairman of BIO in the US from 1994-96 and remains a member of its Board and Chair of its Bioethics Committee.