2003 Public Lecture Series
Delving into DNA: You Say Genetics, I Say Genomics
Part 2
Gregor Mendel used garden peas to figure out the basic laws of how genes are transmitted from parent to offspring. Thomas Hunt Morgan used fruit flies to determine that genes are found in chromosomes, and John Sulston and Robert Waterston used a roundworm to decipher the first complete genome of a multicellular eukaryote like ourselves. The revolution in human genetics, with its potential for improving human health, is the result of years of research on simple model organisms. The underlying blueprint of genes that control how cells work is conserved among all forms of life, so studies on organisms and biological processes seemingly far removed from humans can reveal molecular processes that have direct implications for understanding and combating human disease. We will look at model organisms that are used in genetics research and learn about their biology. We also will discuss how scientists exploit the peculiarities of model organisms to design experiments that extend our knowledge about how genes work.
Robert Glaser, Ph.D.
Dr. Glaser is a molecular geneticist and member of the Wadsworth Center's Laboratory of Developmental Genetics and an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Albany's School of Public Health. He received his doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1989 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He has been studying the genetics of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, for the past 20 years. His current research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on using the fruit fly to understand the causes of Batten Disease, a genetic neurodegenerative disease of children.