>> WELL, HELLO TO EVERYBODY AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH

FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY AND DR. CONNOR TO COME IN

AND SPEAK HERE AT GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

I'M HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU TODAY.

UM, I HAVE ONE RULE FOR MY PRESENTATIONS WHEN I GIVE THEM

AND THAT IS THAT WE KEEP THINGS INFORMAL.

SO, IF THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THIS PARTICULAR DISCUSSION,

YOU FEEL COMPELLED TO RAISE YOUR HAND

AND ASK A QUESTION OR INTERJECT OR WHATEVER,

I INSIST THAT YOU DO IT.

LET'S KEEP THIS AS DISCUSSIONAL AS POSSIBLE.

WE'VE GOT AN HOUR AND A HALF TOGETHER, AND, UH...

I HAVE ABOUT A MILLION SLIDES TO GO THROUGH.

SO, DEPENDING ON HOW MY NERVOUSNESS IS, THEY'LL BE DONE IN SIX MINUTES

OR, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE HOURS.

SO, WE'LL SEE HOW THIS GOES.

UH, SO, YEAH, IT IS QUITE A LONG TITLE TO MY PRESENTATION TODAY,

AND IT'S, "WILL YOU BE ABLE TO PREORDER THE SEX, HEIGHT, HAIR COLOR,

"PERSONALITY OF YOUR NEW BABY?

"AND IF YOU CAN, SHOULD YOU?"

SO... UH-OH.

THERE WE GO.

SO, I'VE KINDA CONDENSED THAT TITLE TO BE "GENOMICS & YOU."

SO, BEFORE WE GO REALLY FARTHER TODAY...

I HAVE TO GIVE THIS DISCLAIMER, AND THIS IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT

AND THERE'S A REASON THAT I'M DOING IT.

SO, I WANT YOU ALL TO UNDERSTAND THAT I'M HERE TODAY

AND I'M NOT REPRESENTING MY COMPANY.

I'M REPRESENTING MYSELF AND MY EXPERIENCES,

AND ANYTHING THAT I SAY OR IMPLY COMES COMPLETELY FROM ME

AND NOT FROM ANYTHING THAT MY COMPANY DOES OR BELIEVES IN...

OR WHAT HAVE YOU.

SO, THIS IS ALL ME, NONE THEM.

AND THE REASON THAT I'M MAKING THIS DISCLAIMER

IS BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA HEAD INTO SOME MURKY WATERS...

AND A LOT OF PEOPLE FIND THE THINGS THAT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL.

AND I WANT TO BE FREE TO TALK ABOUT THIS STUFF WITH YOU

AS AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON IN SOCIETY,

RATHER THAN A REPRESENTATIVE OF A COMPANY,

WHO MAY HAVE A DIFFERENT AGENDA AND SHAREHOLDERS TO ACCOUNT FOR.

SO, THIS IS ABOUT US TODAY.

UM, JUST TO EXTEND A LITTLE BIT ON THE INTRODUCTION,

SO THAT YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WHETHER OR NOT

YOU'D LIKE TO BELIEVE ANYTHING I HAVE TO SAY.

SO, I DID GET SOME TRAINING, EARLY ON, AT HILLSDALE COLLEGE.

I STUDIED BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY.

I WENT TO OHIO UNIVERSITY AND I GOT A PhD IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY,

AND I STUDIED ONE PART OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

CALLED "POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROCESSING,"

WHICH JUST BASICALLY HAS TO DO WITH THE ACTIVITY OF THE GENOME.

I WAS OF RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

IN THE DIVISION OF EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS,

WHERE WE TRIED TO DEVELOP DRUGS TO FRONT-LOAD SOLDIERS WITH--

BEFORE THEY WENT INTO BATTLE,

SO THAT IF THEY WOULD WALK INTO A FIELD OF SARIN GAS,

THAT WE COULD GIVE THEM AN APPROPRIATE DRUG BEFOREHAND

AND THEY'D BE IMPERVIOUS TO THE DRUG.

ALL VERY SCI-FI MILITARY-TYPE STUFF...

BUT I ALSO WORKED AT THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

DOING A BUNCH OF WORK AS A SCIENTIST, WITH CANCER.

BUT IT WAS ABOUT THAT TIME, IN MY EARLY 30s,

THAT I LEFT ACADEMIC RESEARCH

AND WENT OVER TO THE DARK SIDE OF BUSINESS,

AND I WORKED FOR A BIOTECH COMPANY CALLED AFFYMETRIX

AS AN APPLICATION SCIENTIST.

AND THEN, I HAD FIGURED IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA

TO START MY OWN COMPANY.

SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE SOMETIMES WORK OUT, SOMETIMES THEY DON'T,

AND WE DID OKAY WITH THAT,

BUT MY COMPANY, CALLED "TENEO SCIENCES"--

WE WORKED IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

AND WHAT WE DID WITH THAT COMPANY

IS TRIED TO DEVELOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES

THAT WOULD COMB THROUGH LARGE SETS OF GENETIC DATA

AND TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF IT.

AND YOU MAY UNDERSTAND WHY THAT'S IMPORTANT LATER,

BY THE END OF THIS TALK.

I'VE ALSO BEEN A CONSULTANT AND INVENTOR FOR SHADY GROVE CENTER

FOR PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETICS.

THIS IS A LARGE, EAST COAST IN VITRO FERTILIZATION CLINIC,

AND WE DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGIES TO INTERROGATE EMBRYOS

BEFORE THEY WERE IMPLANTED IN THE RECIPIENT FEMALE.

UM, I WAS A VICE PRESIDENT AT deCODE GENETICS,

WHICH IS AN ICELANDIC COMPANY, AND WHILE I WAS THERE,

WE WERE THE WORLD'S LARGEST GENETICS ANALYSIS COMPANY.

THEY'RE STILL QUITE LARGE.

AND THEY'VE BEEN SUPPLANTED BY COMPLETE GENOMICS,

WHERE I WORK RIGHT NOW,

WHERE WE DO WHOLE HUMAN GENOME SEQUENCING AND THAT'S IT.

THAT'S ALL WE DO.

THERE WE GO.

SO, I HAVE ONE MAJOR OBJECTIVE HERE.

(clearing throat)

IF I COULD BE ONE THING TODAY WITH ALL OF YOU,

I'D LIKE TO BRING WHOLE HUMAN GENOME SEQUENCING AND GENETICS

AND GENOMICS TO THE FOREFRONT OF YOUR MIND

AND GET YOU TO THINK ABOUT IT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN SOCIETY

AND IN YOUR LIFE AND PERHAPS EVEN IN YOUR CAREERS,

IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF HAVING A CAREER.

AND TO DO THAT,

I'M GOING TO GIVE A VERY HIGH-LEVEL LOOK AT GENOMICS AND GENETICS.

I'M NOT GOING TO GET INTO THE WEEDS OF HOW ALL THAT STUFF'S PUT TOGETHER

OR ANALYSIS IS DONE.

AND I WANNA MAKE THIS AS REAL AS POSSIBLE FOR ALL OF YOU.

AND SO, TO DO THAT, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU REAL EXAMPLES FROM REAL PEOPLE,

AND SOME OF THESE EXAMPLES WILL TEND FROM THE MUNDANE--

THE STUFF IN THE BEGINNING OF THE TALK--

TO RATHER EXOTIC STUFF TOWARDS THE END OF THE TALK.

OKAY, SO, IN THE PROCESS, I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR WITH YOU

ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION.

SO, I-- WHEN YOU WALK OUT HERE,

I WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO SAY, "THESE ARE FACTS--

"THESE THINGS WE KNOW TO BE TRUE,

"AND THESE OTHER THINGS

"THAT GUY IN THE FRONT OF THE ROOM SAID WERE HIS OPINIONS,"

'CAUSE THEY ARE JUST THAT.

BUT MY OPINIONS HAVE BEEN FORMED ON THIS SUBJECT,

TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS,

TALKING TO WORLD LEADERS IN GENETICS AND GENOMICS,

AND MY OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS.

OKAY.

SO, TO START OFF-- THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF D.N.A.

ACTUALLY, BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER,

I'D LIKE TO FIND OUT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOU.

HOW MANY STUDENTS IN HERE ARE IN PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR?

DON'T BE SHY.

HOW ABOUT SOCIOLOGY?

OKAY, HOW ABOUT BIOLOGY?

AND THAT WAS ONLY ABOUT, LIKE, HALF THE ROOM.

WHAT ARE THE REST OF YOU DOING?

NURSING?

OR WHAT ARE THE OTHER KINDS OF--

JUST GO AHEAD AND SHOUT OUT WHAT SOMEBODY ELSE IS DOING IN HERE.

>> PRE-MED. >> PRE-MED, GOOD.

>> CRIMINAL JUSTICE. >> CRIMINAL JUSTICE, EXCELLENT.

VERY GOOD.

ARCHITECTURE?

FANTASTIC.

YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE THE FIRST SLIDES.

OKAY, ALL RIGHT.

THAT'S GREAT.

AND I SEE THAT THERE'S SOME FACULTY IN HERE AS WELL.

IS THAT ALL FACULTY FROM GRCC?

YEAH?

OKAY.

OKAY...

SO, HERE IS THE VERY, VERY TRADITIONAL...

EXPLANATION OF D.N.A.

D.N.A. IS THE PLAN, RIGHT?

THIS IS HOW, FOR AGES, PEOPLE HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT.

IT'S THE ANALOGY THAT WE USE.

SO, IN OTHER WORDS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT HERE IS ON...

THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN, FOR ALL OF YOU--

IS SORT OF A BLUEPRINT RENDERING OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S "FALLING WATER."

THAT'S THE BLUEPRINT FOR HIS BEAUTIFUL HOME

IN PENNSYLVANIA, "FALLING WATER."

AND SO, THE ANALOGY WOULD GO

THAT THE D.N.A. ITSELF IS A SIMILAR PLAN,

AND THAT THAT PLAN CREATES AN ORGANISM-- IN THIS CASE, THE HUMAN.

SO, I THINK THAT-- I THINK THAT THAT IS...

AN OLD FASHIONED WAY TO THINK ABOUT D.N.A.

AND NOT REALLY TOTALLY CORRECT.

SO, MORE THAN JUST THE PLAN, D.N.A.-- YOUR GENOME--

IS A INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

IT DOES MORE THAN JUST LAY OUT WHAT THE STRUCTURE OF THINGS SHOULD BE.

IT IS THE SET OF DIRECTIVES THAT ARE REQUIRED

TO CREATE, GROW, MATURE,

OBSOLETE, AND KILL AN ORGANISM.

ALL THIS IS CONTAINED WITHIN IT.

AND WE PASS THIS INFORMATION FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

THROUGH HERITABILITY.

SO, I THINK IT AS THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL, FULL OF DIRECTIVES.

(clearing throat)

SO, MANY OF YOU HAVE HAD THIS IN