2005 Public Lecture Series
The ABCs of DNA: Reading the Genetic Alphabet
Far from being the stuff of science fiction, the genetics revolution is at hand today. Some already have felt its effects, with genetic tests becoming more common and gene therapy hovering on the horizon. The potential applications of the knowledge provided by the genome project are exploding across medicine and biotechnology. This lecture will provide a fast-paced journey from simple terminology through up-to-the-minute molecular genetic technologies that are making genetic tests, gene therapies and gene discoveries possible. We will learn the molecular alphabet, hear about misspellings and other consequences, and see how faster, cheaper and better tools and techniques are pushing forward the scientific frontiers. We will lay the groundwork for the rest of the series and prepare participants to be knowledgeable bystanders of the genetics revolution.
Related links:
Dr. Derbyshire came to the Wadsworth Center in 1992, after receiving her doctorate in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, followed by postdoctoral work there. She is a research scientist in Wadsworth Center's Laboratory of Developmental Genetics where she has NSF funding to study inteins, genetic interruptions in a number of proteins. These inteins are also mobile genetic elements, which remove themselves from the host at the protein level only to insert themselves in targeted DNA sequences, and are valuable biotechnology tools that may prove useful in the fight against infectious disease. She also studies the structure and function of proteins produced by the RNA equivalent of inteins, called introns. Dr. Derbyshire combines research with clinical responsibilities for the Wadsworth Center. She evaluates "home brew" tests for infectious diseases developed by clinical laboratories around the country that utilize molecular methods such as those described in her presentation this evening.