Biological Sciences Colloquium: Jill McClary-Gutierrez

Jill McClary-Gutierrez, Biological Safety Officer at UW-Milwaukee, will present a talk about her work entitled, “From LAIs to AI: History and current trends in biosafety & biosecurity.”

The abstract is as follows:

“Even before the establishment of germ theory in the late 1800s, humans have studied disease-causing organisms and, in turn, developed practices for working with those materials safely. However, it wasn’t until the late 1900s that lab-associated infections (LAIs) were identified as a significant threat to the health of research and clinical scientists, leading to the development of modern biosafety principles. Nowadays, in the golden age of molecular biology, new biological research tools are being developed at an incredible rate and can be implemented with ease for studies spanning a wide range of disciplines, from physics to anthropology. In this talk, I’ll discuss both the origins of biosafety for preventing LAIs, as well as current trends in biosafety & biosecurity policy related to gene drives, gain-of-function research, and artificial intelligence. I’ll also provide a brief overview of UWM’s Biosafety Program and share what it’s like to work as a biosafety professional in a post-pandemic world.”

The presentation will begin at 4:00 PM in Lapham Hall N101, preceded by an informal reception from 3:45 – 4:00 PM.