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Chaired by Georgina Ferry, science writer and author

2pm – 2.10pm
Introduction

From Neolithic burials to Mozart’s Requiem and the novels of Martin Amis, humans have fashioned cultural responses to the inevitability of each individual’s demise. But what does science have to say about death? In a stimulating afternoon of panel discussions, scientists and writers debate the impact of future advances in science and technology on our understanding of the end.

2.10 – 3.20pm
Facing death

What are the living mechanisms that break down when things die? What extremes can the body endure and survive? How have microbes evolved that kill their hosts?

Frances Ashcroft FRS, Glaxo SmithKline Royal Society Research Professor at the University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford, author of The Spark of Life; Kevin Fong, Consultant in Anaesthesia, director of the Centre for Aviation, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine at University College London, author of Extremes: Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body; Sunetra Gupta, novelist and professor of theoretical epidemiology, Oxford Martin Programme on Vaccines

3.20 – 3.50pm Tea

3.50 – 5.00pm
A necessary end?

Can we rejuvenate ourselves with spare parts grown in the laboratory? Can technology provide a longer-term substitute for living bodies and brains? For how long can – or should – the end be postponed?

Paul Fairchild, co-director of the Oxford Stem Cell Institute, Oxford Martin School; Adam Rutherford, geneticist, writer and TV presenter, author of Creation: The Story of Life on Earth and How We Are About to Start it Again; Anders Sandberg, James Martin Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University; Donna Dickenson, philosopher and bioethicist, author of Bioethics: All That Matters.

Combine this event with 807 Death or Glory for £40 in total and save £5. Telephone or in person bookings only.

In partnership with the Oxford Martin School of the University of Oxford, Science Oxford and the Oxfordshire Science Festival