Join Dr Francis Collins and Dr Nick Spencer as they explore meaning and purpose in an age of genetic modification.
Science’s ability to understand, control, modify and “improve” the human genome is greater now than ever before. And, with the tech money and AI power now in place, the speed of change is set to become even faster.
What does the future hold when rapid scientific advance meets enduring questions of meaning, purpose and hope? What does it mean to be human in an age of genetic modification? Are we, as some have claimed, heading towards a “post–human” future? Should we be worried?
Join Francis Collins, former Director of Human Genome Project and author of The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith and Trust, and Nick Spencer, senior fellow at the think tank Theos, and co–author of Playing God: science, religion and the future of humanity as they discuss topics from genetics and artificial intelligence to human identity and the soul. The evening will be chaired by Miranda Green from the Financial Times.
Where?
The event will be hosted at St. Martin–in–the–Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 4JJ.
When?
Doors will open from 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The conversation will run from 7pm – 8.30pm and will be followed by a reception in the Crypt Café.
The evening is part of an upcoming series of events celebrating 20 years of Theos’ work at the intersection of faith and public life, bringing together leading voices to explore how religion, values, and moral reasoning can help shape a flourishing society in a changing world.
Find out more and reserve your place here.
Dr Francis Collins is the former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A world–renowned scientist and New York Times bestselling author of The Language of God, Dr Collins was involved in the identification of the genetic cause of cystic fibrosis in 1989, and led the Human Genome Project, funded by the federal government, from 1993. In 2009, he became director of the National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest supporter of biomedical research, serving under Obama, Trump and Biden. When COVID–19 struck in spring 2020, he organised and led a partnership called ACTIV, leading to the development, rigorous testing and emergency use approval of 2 COVID–19 vaccines (BioNTech and Moderna) in just 11 months.
Dr Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at Theos. He is the author of a number of books and reports, most recently, ‘The Landscapes of Science and Religion’ (OUP, 2025), ‘Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity’ (2024), and ‘Magisteria: the entangled histories of science and religion’ (Oneworld, 2023). His next book, on ‘Christianity and the Future of Welfare’ is due out with Cambridge University Press in 2026. Nick is host of the Theos podcast Reading Our Times.
Madeleine Davies (Chair) is a senior writer at the Church Times, a newspaper that has covered the Church and State since 1863. She has featured in, written for and presented on a wide range of media, including the New Statesman, Sunday Times, and the BBC. Her book, Lights for the Path, which explored bereavement in adolescence, was published by SPCK in 2020.
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