Prominent geneticist to speak tonight

By Luis Jiménez
Staff Writer

A lecture about the coexistence of religion and scientific research will be given by a world-renowned molecular geneticist and lecturer.

Francisco J. Ayala will give a lecture titled "Human Evolution: from Biology to Ethics" at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Fowler Hall.

Ayala, author of more than 65 books and 700 articles on genetics issues, is a member of the U.S. President’s Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology and is a frequent lecturer at universities and other institutions in the United States and abroad. He is also a professor of biology and philosophy at University of California at Irvine.

His research focuses on population and evolutionary genetics, but Ayala also studies and writes about the interface between religion and science, and on philosophical issues concerning ethics and the philosophy of biology.

Donald Mitchell, chair of the religious studies program and professor of philosophy, has been coordinating the lecture series that features Ayala's presentation along with a presentation by Roberto Colella, a professor of physics.

Mitchell said the intention of the series is to give people who work in the fields of science and technology the opportunity to hear famous people involved in the debate that exists around this topic. "It is a lecture series on science and religious faiths meant to explore the relation, on one hand, people doing scientific research and on the other hand, holding a particular religious faith," said Colella.

Past speakers have included preeminent scientists and professionals such as Charles Towns, Nobel Prize winner and inventor of the laser; and John Polkinghorn, president of Cambridge University in England.

According to Mitchell, the lectures have been gaining popularity over the past few years. They have moved the lectures to a bigger room and recent lectures have drawn 100 to 200 people.

Adela Colella, who was part of the development of the series when it began, said that Ayala was invited to speak at Purdue because he is one of the best qualified in this field, as he is not only a scientist but also a professor of philosophy and a former priest.

"He is a world famous scientist in his field," she said. "It’s a great honor that he is coming."

The lecture is funded in part by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and is sponsored by the Schools of Science and Liberal Arts, the departments of physics, philosophy, biology and the religious studies program.

The lecture will be free and open to the public.

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Prominent geneticist to speak tonight

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