The BioAgenda Great Debate between Ray Kurzweil and Baroness Susan Greenfield aired internationally on Sunday, April 2 on NPR's "Tech Nation", hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Taped at the BioAgenda 2006 Summit in Palm Springs on March 9, 2006, Kurzweil and Greenfield debated: Will biotech save us, or destroy us? Heard on 200 NPR affiliates and in 133 nations; available online and as a podcast. Click here to hear the debate.

BioAgenda "Great Debate" 
 
Enhancing humans: how far do we go?
 
The pros and cons of being smarter, stronger, faster, disease-free… or immortal? The ethics, economics, law and philosophy of perfecting and enhancing the human "machine".

A formal debate (like we used to have in high school)
 
Moderator: Moira Gunn, PhD, Host of National Public Radio’s "Tech Nation" and "BioTech Nation"

Baroness Susan Greenfield, PhD, Professor, Oxford University; Director, The Royal Institution of Great Britain; UK House of Lords

Ray Kurzweil, PhD, Founder, Chairman, CEO, Kurzweil Technologies; best-selling author of The Age of Spiritual Machines

The debate was conducted like an old-fashioned high school debate, with each debater getting set periods of time to present their opinions, with timed follow-ups. During the Great Debate the audience was asked to vote on which point of view was best articulated -- with a scale given on a sheet of paper that had a "1" for "biotech will save us" and a "5" for "biotech will destroy us. A "3" meant it was too early to tell. Listen to the "Great Debate on NPR to find out how the audience voted.

Email comments@BioAgendaPrograms.com with your comments on the debate, and we'll do our best to post them!