2024 Lund Symposium
April 18 & 19, 2024
Lund University
The symposium On Human Origins and the Future of Humanity took place April 18/19 in the 50th year of the discovery of Lucy by Prof. Donald Johanson who was one of a number of keynote speakers. Johanson's discovery forever changed humankind's view of ourselves. The program delved into the origin of life itself and highlighted further and recent developments in the understanding of our genetic heritage, evaluating how mankind has evolved and what new scientific discoveries and technologies will mean for human life going forward. The program considered where humankind would potentially be heading given new scientific understanding and discoveries, that offer the abilities to extend life and human capabilities. We looked at our place as a species, in terms of time, our role in nature, in tangent with the many challenges and opportunities that laid before us, such as ecological instability, species extinction and procurement and allocation of dwindling resources.
Opening Day 1
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Bengt Norden, Prof. Erik Renstrom
Prof. Ben L. Feringa
TALK TITLE: Exploring Molecular Signatures of Life
Prof. Morten Meldal
TALK TITLE: Molecular Click Adventures – A Leap from the Shoulders of Giants
Opening Day 2:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Per Alm
Panel discussion 3:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Bengt Norden, Dr. Tim Hunt, Prof. Robert Langer, Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier
Prof. Omar M. Yaghi
TALK TITLE: Molecular Precision for Betterment of Humanity
Watch the Talks
The symposium On Human Origins and the Future of Humanity took place on April 18/19 in the 50th year of the discovery of Lucy by Prof. Donald Johanson who was one of a number of keynote speakers.
DAY 1
Prof. Donald C. Johanson
TALK TITLE: Our Place in the Future: Lessons from a 3-million-year-old ancestor
Panel discussion 1:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Bengt Norden, Prof. Donald Johanson, Prof. Jack Szostak, Prof. Ben Feringa
Panel discussion 2:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Bengt Norden, Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, Prof. Morten Meldal, Prof. Frances Arnold
Prof. Dr. Jack W. Szostak
TALK TITLE: The Origin of Life: Not as Hard as it Looks?
Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn
TALK TITLE: Steps toward Complex Matter: Chemistry !
DAY 2
Dr. Tim Hunt
TALK TITLE: Pain and suffering: the agony of not knowing
Prof. Christer Fuglesang
TALK TITLE: Spaceflight: past, current and future
Prof. Dr. J. Craig Venter
TALK TITLE: Presymptomatic screening of apparently healthy individuals as an approach to human longevity
Prof. Robert S. Langer
TALK TITLE: Future Vaccines and therapeutics ; approaches to deliver mRNA and other macromolecules
Prof. Katherine Richardson
TALK TITLE: Planetary Boundaries: A tool to guide management of Human-Earth interactions
Panel discussion 4:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Prof. Bengt Norden, Prof. Katherine Richardson, Prof. Omar Yaghi, Dr. Craig Venter