Boston Flora

Tag: dna

  • Wednesday, October 15, 6:00 pm – Adapting Species to a Changing World: The Potential of Genome Editing

    Innovative new technologies may enable scientists to manipulate ancient and modern DNA to safeguard ecosystems from invasive organisms, help species recover their genetic diversity, and address issues of climate change. However, as geneticist George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, will discuss, while resurrecting mammoths could help maintain the Arctic permafrost, such developments require thoughtful consideration of complex system interactions and potential unintended consequences. This Harvard Museum of Natural History program will take place Wednesday, October 15, beginning at 6 pm in the Geological Lecture Hall at 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. Free and open to the public. Free event parking available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Wednesday, April 2, 6:00 pm – From Darwin to DNA: The Genetic Basis of Animal Behavior

    How do certain animals, such as wild mice, evolve their most critical survival traits, including skin coloration, body shape, and the ability to dig elaborate tunnels in order to hide from predators? How fast can successive generations acquire visible traits, and how do animal genes and behavior interact? Evolutionary geneticist Hopi Hoekstra, Professor of Zoology and Curator of Mammals at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, and colleagues have combined extensive field research with the latest techniques in DNA analysis to unlock one of biology’s most elusive secrets: the genes that control behavior. She will speak on Wednesday, April 2, beginning at 6 pm at the Geological Lecture Hall of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge. The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public. Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    https://www.mcb.harvard.edu/mcb_files/media/editor_uploads/2013/05/2013_hoekstra_hhmi.jpg

  • Wednesday, November 13, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – What is Life?

    Three seminal figures in biological and biomedical sciences, George M. Church, PhD, Gary Ruvkun, PhD, and Jack Szostak, PhD, discuss life as we know it, life as it may have begun, and life as it may evolve in the future, in the Cahners Theater at the Museum of Science on Wednesday, November 13, beginning at 7 pm. From basic elements of human biology to nuances in aging and illness and on to life forms we’ve never known before, venture into an investigation of what we know, what we may find out, and what we have yet to imagine. Cocktail reception follows this Reno Family Foundation Symposium. $20. Tickets available online at https://store.mos.org/index.php?action=showevent;event_id=746;c=1.

    George M. Church, PhD is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT, Director of the NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Science, Synthetic Biology Platform Lead at Hansjorg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and recipient of the 2011 Franklin Bower Award for Achievement in Science for his contributions to genomic science, including the development of DNA sequencing technologies, and his efforts in personal genomics and synthetic biology.

    Gary Ruvkun, PhD (pictured below) is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and recipient of the 2008 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the 2012 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research for his discovery of microRNAs.

    Jack Szostak, PhD is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Alexander Rich Distinguished Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital, and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine, the 2008 Dr. H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, and the 2006 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

    Funding provided by the Reno Family Foundation Fund.

    http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/11-ruvkun.jpg

  • Friday, April 2, 6:30 pm – Complexities of American Rose Species: Their Taxonomy to DNA

    Dr. Walter H. Lewis, Emeritus and University Research Ethnobotanist, Washington University in St. Louis and Missouri Botanical Garden, and the 2010 New England Botanical Club Distinguished Speaker, will give a talk on the Complexities of American Rose Species: Their Taxonomy to DNA on Friday, April 2, in the Lecture Hall (Room 102) of the Fairchild Biochemistry Building at 7 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge.  The Fairchild Biochemistry Building is part of the main campus near Harvard Square and is between Busch Hall and the Peabody Museum.  For specific directions log on to www.rhodora.org/Meetings.html.

    The sponsor, The New England Botanical Club, which originated in 1895, is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of plants of North America, especially the flora of New England and adjacent areas.  The Club publishes the journal Rhodora, holds monthly meetings during the academic year, maintains an herbarium of more than 253,000 sheets, has a small library, and annually grants a graduate student research award.  An office for the Club is maintained at the Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, and you may reach the office at 617-308-3656 for membership information, or log on to www.rhodora.org.  Regular member dues are $50 annually, and a family rate, including a copy of Rhodora, is $60.  Student membership costs $25.

    http://www.homewoodsuitesshreveport.com/images/apg_1227567703.jpg