George Church is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and professor of health sciences and technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He co-launched the Human Genome Project in 1984. His current research includes efforts to extend animal lifespans.

Leonard M. Fleck is a professor in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences and the department of philosophy at Michigan State University. He studies how decisions are made about controversial medical advancements, including genetic technologies.

Marcy Darnovsky is executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. She speaks and writes about why scientific advancements such as gene editing are a social justice concern.

Wiliam Storrar is the director of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, N.J., an ecumenical institute for interdisciplinary research in religion. The center designates several topics to study for a year or more and has, to date, focused on religion and violence, law and religious freedom, evolution and moral identity, among others.

Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman is the founding director of Sinai and Synapses, an organization that brings together Judaism and science, mostly through the introduction of scientists into synagogue programming. He is also a scholar of biblical and Judaic studies. Mitelman can be contacted through the Sinai and Synapses website.

Salman Hameed is an astronomer and associate professor of integrated science and humanities at Hampshire College. He is director of the Center for the Study of Science in Muslim Societies.  He operates the science and religion blog called Irtiqa, which emphasizes debates about science in the Islamic world.

Christopher Benek is a Presbyterian pastor and frequent commentator on emerging technology and theology, including artificial intelligence and religion.

Ray Kurzweil is a futurist, inventor, author and expert on artificial intelligence. His most notable books in this area include The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. His Kurzweil Network explores “pervasive technologies” such as AI.

Werner Arber is a Nobel Prize-winning microbiologist and president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In 2016, the academy held a conference titled “Power and Limits of Artificial Intelligence” with professionals working in AI. He has said it is important for the Vatican “to have a voice” in the development of AI. Contact via the Pontifical […]