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Spencer Wells is a geneticist, anthropologist, author, and entrepreneur. For over a decade, he served as an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and was the Director of the Genographic Project, which collected and analyzed DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to understand how our ancestors populated the planet. This initiative spearheaded the consumer genomics industry. Wells earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and conducted postdoctoral work at Stanford and Oxford.
He is the founder and CEO of the personal genomics company Insitome and the co-founder of Shambhala Expeditions, a travel company. Wells has also ventured into the music scene as a co-owner of the iconic Austin blues club Antone’s. As an author, he has written three books: "The Journey of Man," "Deep Ancestry," and "Pandora's Seed." His extensive fieldwork has brought him to more than 100 countries, where he has engaged with a diverse range of groups, from heads of government to tribal chieftains in remote regions like Chad, Tajikistan, and Papua New Guinea.
Currently residing in Austin, Texas, he also enriches the academic community as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas, where he contributes to both scientific research and education. His multifaceted career spans across various disciplines and industries, reflecting his commitment to integrating scientific knowledge with practical applications in society and culture.
Speech Topics
Consumer Genomics: The 30,000-foot view
The consumer genomics industry is a product of the past decade. The Genographic Project, which launched in 2005, is widely credited with its creation, and companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA now collectively sell more than 1 million DNA testing kits a year. In this talk, Wells presents a broad view of the industry from its “cottage” roots to its broader acceptance by the general public in North America. Topics covered include ancestry testing, the viability of testing for health-related traits, and the regulatory environment in which consumers for the first time in history have a means to read their own genetic blueprints. A rare first-person account of the dawn of a new industry, presented by one of its founders and leading advocates.
Innovation: An Evolutionary Imperative
It has been said that the only certainty is change. Today this seems to be truer than ever, as we deal with economic and ecological upheaval our ancestors never could have imagined. Or could they? Creator and director of National Geographic and IBM's Genographic Project and author of three popular books on humanity's ancient past, Wells takes a much broader view. From the evolutionary origins of human innovation to our modern preference for technologies that appeal to hunter-gatherer minds, Wells provides lessons that resonate in today's rapidly changing world.
Pandora's Seed: The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization - Terrorism, pandemic disease, and global warming -- what do these have in common?
To find the answer we need to go back ten millennia, to the wheat fields of the Fertile Crescent and the rice paddies of southern China. It was then that our species made a radical shift in its way of life, progressing from a largely hunter-gatherer society to controlling our food supply by domesticating animals and plants. Journey with Dr. Wells on a 10,000-year tour of human history as he charts the rise to power of Homo agriculturis and the effects this radical shift in lifestyle has had on our species, and speculates on where we might be headed in the future.
The Human Journey: A Genetic Odyssey
Join Wells on an epic journey that spans the globe, using DNA to trace the migration routes of our ancient ancestors and revealing the incredible tapestry of human diversity created along the way.
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