Reinventing Life: A Guide to Our Evolutionary Future

Based on the new book, Reinventing Life — A Guide to Our Evolutionary Future, this session will explore the future of evolution and the decisions that each of us makes to drive it. Humans are currently dominating the evolutionary process in mostly unconscious and destructive ways.

Attendees will be challenged to consider the advantages of a paradigm shift to conscious evolutionary stewardship. Will we restore ecosystems or continue to degrade them? Could regenerative medicine allow us to live for hundreds of years? How might we enhance ourselves through genetics or robotics? Should we resurrect extinct species? Will we spread life to other worlds? What should be our role in nature?

Highlights: 

Participants will leave with an understanding of:

  • How we are driving evolution in the modern world (examples chosen from different areas of biology — ecology, cell biology, and genetics).
  • Different options for our evolutionary future, depending on choices that we make.

Jeffrey Coker, author, associate professor of biology, director of general studies, Elon University, Elon, North Carolina, USA

portrait of Jeffrey Coker