Summer Semester at the Schar School: Prof. Koblentz on German TV

The crew of Germany’s “Planet E,” a documentary program on the environment, taped an interview on July 1 with Schar School of Policy and Government associate professor Gregory Koblentz. Koblentz is the director of the master’s and PhD programs in Biodefense and is an expert on weapons of mass destruction and other so-called “wicked problems.” The interview with the ZDF-TV crew, which took place at the Van Metre Hall library on the Arlington Campus, focused on gene editing and CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Later in the month the crew will film an interview with Jesse Kirkpatrick, assistant director of George Mason University’s Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, who, with Koblentz and a team of researchers from Stanford University, is studying the risks, benefits, and governance options of the emerging and controversial technology. “Planet E” will also tape in Iowa, Utah, and Boston; the show will air later in the year.