The Faculty of Science hosts public lectures during the academic year that address a scientific issue of the day as well as bring to campus well-known scientists from around the world. Established in 2002, the Discovery Lecture is designed to showcase and promote excellence in science journalism.

Sponsored jointly by the Faculty of Science and the School of Journalism, the lecture is held annually in the winter semester and is free and open to the public.

2022 Discovery Lecture

Dangerous Genes: From CRISPR Babies to the COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory

A presentation by Antonio Regalado, Biomedicine Editor, MIT Technology Review

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 | Zoom Webinar
Lecture begins at 7 p.m. followed by Q&A at 8 p.m. ET

Find us on social media and join the conversation using #2022DiscoveryLecture

Register Here

2022 Guest Lecturer

Antonio Regalado

Antonio Regalado is the senior editor for biomedicine for MIT Technology Review. He looks for stories about how technology is changing medicine and biomedical research. Before joining MIT Technology Review in July 2011, Regalado lived in São Paulo, Brazil, where he wrote about science, technology, and politics in Latin America for Science and other publications. From 2000 to 2009, he was the science reporter at the Wall Street Journal and later a foreign correspondent.

Previous lectures, 2002-present

Spiders to Wrangle & Mountains to Climb (2021)
Dr. Maydianne CB Andrade

Analyzing Picasso: Close Encounters in Art and Science (2020)
Francesca Casadio

The Past, Present and Future of Medicine (2019)
Natasha Loder

What Dinosaur Teeth Reveal About How they Lived (2018)
Robert Reisz

A Quirky Past, An Uncertain Future (2017)
André Picard

The New Communication Climate (2016)
Andrew Revkin

How to Build a Robot Brain: From Artificial Intelligence to Emotional Intelligence (2015)
Dr. Angelica Lin

Truth, An Inconvenience (2012)
Jay Ingram

Darwinian Evolution: From Conception to Misconception (2009)
Dr. Andrew M. Simons

Evolution and Its Causes (2009)
Dr. Charles Goodnight

The Darwin Beat: Dispatches From the Frontiers of Evolution (2008)
Carl Zimmer

Can Animals Think? (2007)
Jay Ingram
Host, Discovery Channel, Daily Planet

And Now For the Weather (2006)
David Phillips
Senior Climatologist, Environment Canada

Cold As Ice: Canadian Know A Lot About Cold …. Or Do We? (2005)
Dr. Gordon Geisbrecht
Professor of Thermophysiology, University of Manitoba

Future Fantasy: Turning Dreams Into Reality (2004)
Bob MacDonald
Host, CBC Quirks and Quarks

Science, Non-Science and Nonsense from Aliens to Creationism (2003)
Dr. Lawrence Krauss
Ambrose Swassey Professor of Physics, Case Western University

Hey! There Are Cockroaches In My Chocolate Ice Cream (2002)
Dr. Joe Schwarcz
McGill Office for Chemistry and Society