2016 Fred Sanger Lecture
Monday 3rd October, 6.30pm-7.30pm
Henry Wellcome auditorium, Wellcome Collection, London
Genomic data: public, private or ‘common’? A historical perspective
Steven Sturdy, Professor of the Sociology of Medical Knowledge, University of Edinburgh
The growth of genomics has involved recurring disputes over whether genomic data should be treated as a public, private or common good. But what is at stake in those disputes? Who benefits from different forms of ownership of genomic data?
This lecture will examine how and why the boundaries between public and private ownership of genomic data have shifted over the past forty years, including the changing justifications that have been put forward for different forms of ownership. In so doing, it will highlight changes that have taken place in the social organisation and justification of biomedical research more generally.
Free tickets for the lecture are available from the Wellcome Collection website: