Events
Seminar by Áine Niamh O'Toole, University of Edinburgh
APOBEC3 deaminase editing in mpox virus as evidence for sustained human transmission since at least 2016
Talk Abstract:
Historically, mpox has been characterized as a zoonotic disease, primarily transmitted through contact with the reservoir rodent host in West and Central Africa. However, in May 2022, human cases of mpox were identified spreading internationally beyond regions with established endemic reservoirs. Upon sequencing the first cases from 2022, it was found that they exhibited 42 nucleotide differences from the closest previously sampled mpox virus (MPXV). Nearly all these mutations are characteristic of the action of APOBEC3 deaminases, host enzymes with antiviral function.
Assuming that APOBEC3 editing is a hallmark of human MPXV infection, we developed a dual-process phylogenetic molecular clock. This clock, estimating a rate of approximately six APOBEC3 mutations per year, suggests that MPXV has been circulating in humans since at least 2016. These findings, demonstrating sustained transmission of MPXV, represent a significant departure from the traditional understanding of MPXV epidemiology as a zoonosis. They underscore the importance of re-evaluating public health communication related to MPXV and adjusting strategies for outbreak management and control.
Talk Abstract:
Historically, mpox has been characterized as a zoonotic disease, primarily transmitted through contact with the reservoir rodent host in West and Central Africa. However, in May 2022, human cases of mpox were identified spreading internationally beyond regions with established endemic reservoirs. Upon sequencing the first cases from 2022, it was found that they exhibited 42 nucleotide differences from the closest previously sampled mpox virus (MPXV). Nearly all these mutations are characteristic of the action of APOBEC3 deaminases, host enzymes with antiviral function.
Assuming that APOBEC3 editing is a hallmark of human MPXV infection, we developed a dual-process phylogenetic molecular clock. This clock, estimating a rate of approximately six APOBEC3 mutations per year, suggests that MPXV has been circulating in humans since at least 2016. These findings, demonstrating sustained transmission of MPXV, represent a significant departure from the traditional understanding of MPXV epidemiology as a zoonosis. They underscore the importance of re-evaluating public health communication related to MPXV and adjusting strategies for outbreak management and control.
Seminar by Inés T. Marin Moreno (Scientific Officer, European Research Council)
The European Research Council – funding opportunities for excellent research in the Life Sciences
Seminar by Prof Juliette de Meaux, University of Cologne
Polygenic selection and the evolution of gene expression in Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea
Talk Abstract:
Gene expression is presumably the first manifestation of gene function. Its variation is thus evidently shaped by natural selection. Patterns of gene expression variation, unlike other complex phenotypes, have the advantage that they can directly inform us on the molecular basis of physiological and morphological adaptation. I will review what the analysis of gene expression taught us about adaptation in the outcrossing plant species Arabidopsis lyrata, which evolved to withstand drought better than its relatives while also adapting to local conditions. We will discuss the role of gene expression in the polygenic adaptation of natural populations.
Biographical Information:
The fundamental goal of Juliette's research is to elucidate ecological adaptations at the genetic and genomic level, and reveal the molecular basis of ecological performance in natural populations. She first worked on reconstructing the recent history of molecular variants associating with lifetime fitness in the weedy annual and model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. Progressively, her research has incorporated genomics and systems biology approaches to characterize ecological adaptations, while still maintaining a strong trait-based perspective. As it shifts from single gene to polygenic approaches, the work of her team explores all questions related to the adaptive potential of natural populations. In a context of global climate change and widespread biodiversity erosion, understanding and interpreting natural variation has become an urgent matter.
Talk Abstract:
Gene expression is presumably the first manifestation of gene function. Its variation is thus evidently shaped by natural selection. Patterns of gene expression variation, unlike other complex phenotypes, have the advantage that they can directly inform us on the molecular basis of physiological and morphological adaptation. I will review what the analysis of gene expression taught us about adaptation in the outcrossing plant species Arabidopsis lyrata, which evolved to withstand drought better than its relatives while also adapting to local conditions. We will discuss the role of gene expression in the polygenic adaptation of natural populations.
Biographical Information:
The fundamental goal of Juliette's research is to elucidate ecological adaptations at the genetic and genomic level, and reveal the molecular basis of ecological performance in natural populations. She first worked on reconstructing the recent history of molecular variants associating with lifetime fitness in the weedy annual and model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. Progressively, her research has incorporated genomics and systems biology approaches to characterize ecological adaptations, while still maintaining a strong trait-based perspective. As it shifts from single gene to polygenic approaches, the work of her team explores all questions related to the adaptive potential of natural populations. In a context of global climate change and widespread biodiversity erosion, understanding and interpreting natural variation has become an urgent matter.
Seminar by Dr. Colin Adrain, Queen's University, Belfast
The Role of the ADAM17 'sheddase complex' in Inflammation and Metabolic regulation
Biographical Information:
Dr. Colin Adrain is a Senior Lecturer with the Patrick Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's University, Belfast. The Adrain laboratory works on trafficking and shedding of cytokines, such as TNF, and in particular the role of molecules that regulate the ADAM17/TACE 'sheddase complex' that regulates TNF secretion. Colin obtained his PhD in the Martin Laboratory with the Dept. of Genetics at Trinity College and then undertook post-doctoral training at Trinity and then at The LMB, University of Cambridge, UK in the Freeman laboratory. Colin then set up his research group at The Gulbenkian Institute, Portugal, where he remained for 10 years, before moving to Queen's University Belfast in 2020.
Biographical Information:
Dr. Colin Adrain is a Senior Lecturer with the Patrick Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's University, Belfast. The Adrain laboratory works on trafficking and shedding of cytokines, such as TNF, and in particular the role of molecules that regulate the ADAM17/TACE 'sheddase complex' that regulates TNF secretion. Colin obtained his PhD in the Martin Laboratory with the Dept. of Genetics at Trinity College and then undertook post-doctoral training at Trinity and then at The LMB, University of Cambridge, UK in the Freeman laboratory. Colin then set up his research group at The Gulbenkian Institute, Portugal, where he remained for 10 years, before moving to Queen's University Belfast in 2020.
Seminar by Prof Baskar Bakthavachalu, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India
How structured and disordered domains in the SCA-2 and ALS associated protein Ataxin-2 control Ribonucleoprotein granule condensation
Baskar Bakthavachalu is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India. He is also an EMBO Global Investigator and a Wellcome-DBT India Alliance Intermediate fellow. Within his lab, Baskar focuses on intricate cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, with a particular emphasis on RNA binding proteins, RNP granules, and the misregulation of translation.
Baskar Bakthavachalu is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India. He is also an EMBO Global Investigator and a Wellcome-DBT India Alliance Intermediate fellow. Within his lab, Baskar focuses on intricate cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, with a particular emphasis on RNA binding proteins, RNP granules, and the misregulation of translation.
Seminar by Prof Ian Chambers, The Institute for Stem Cell Research, University of Edinburgh
Transcription factor control of identity in pluripotent and germline cells
Special lecture by Prof. Douglas R. Green, Chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, USA
Persister Act: Near Death Experiences in Cancer Cells
The Martin laboratory would like to invite you to a special lecture that will be held in the atrium of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics on Thursday 9th of March at 2pm.
Doug will discuss his latest work (Kalkavan et al., Cell, 2022) exploring the non-genetic factors that regulate the escape of cancer cells from chemotherapy and can even make such cells more invasive and resistant to therapy. Doug Green is a world authority on Cell Death control, is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, and is a highly engaging speaker. This should be a fantastic talk and all are welcome to attend.
The Martin laboratory would like to invite you to a special lecture that will be held in the atrium of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics on Thursday 9th of March at 2pm.
Doug will discuss his latest work (Kalkavan et al., Cell, 2022) exploring the non-genetic factors that regulate the escape of cancer cells from chemotherapy and can even make such cells more invasive and resistant to therapy. Doug Green is a world authority on Cell Death control, is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, and is a highly engaging speaker. This should be a fantastic talk and all are welcome to attend.
Seminar by Prof. Janet Browne, Aramont Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University
Darwin Day Lecture
Janet Browne’s interests range widely over the history of the life and earth sciences and natural history. She came to Harvard in 2006 and teaches a variety of courses on evolutionary history and the history of natural history. After a first degree in zoology she studied for a PhD in the history of science at Imperial College London, published as The Secular Ark: Studies in the History of Biogeography (1983). She has spent many years studying the context of Charles Darwin’s work, first as associate editor of the early volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, and then in a biography of Darwin that integrated his science with his life and times. A leading intention of the book was to explore the ways in which scientific knowledge was created, distributed and accepted, moving from private to public, as reflected in the two-volume structure of the work. The biography was received generously both in the UK and USA, and awarded several prizes, including the James Tait Black award for non-fiction in 2004, the W. H. Heinemann Prize from the Royal Literary Society, and the Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society. She is currently exploring the history of Darwin’s impact on popular culture from the time of his death to today. She was based for many years at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London where she taught in the MA, MSc and undergraduate programs in the history of science, biology, and medicine. She has been president of both the British Society for the History of Science and the History of Science Society - curiously, not the first person to do so, but the first woman. She has an Honorary degree from her alma mater, Trinity College Dublin, 2009.
Janet Browne’s interests range widely over the history of the life and earth sciences and natural history. She came to Harvard in 2006 and teaches a variety of courses on evolutionary history and the history of natural history. After a first degree in zoology she studied for a PhD in the history of science at Imperial College London, published as The Secular Ark: Studies in the History of Biogeography (1983). She has spent many years studying the context of Charles Darwin’s work, first as associate editor of the early volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, and then in a biography of Darwin that integrated his science with his life and times. A leading intention of the book was to explore the ways in which scientific knowledge was created, distributed and accepted, moving from private to public, as reflected in the two-volume structure of the work. The biography was received generously both in the UK and USA, and awarded several prizes, including the James Tait Black award for non-fiction in 2004, the W. H. Heinemann Prize from the Royal Literary Society, and the Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society. She is currently exploring the history of Darwin’s impact on popular culture from the time of his death to today. She was based for many years at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London where she taught in the MA, MSc and undergraduate programs in the history of science, biology, and medicine. She has been president of both the British Society for the History of Science and the History of Science Society - curiously, not the first person to do so, but the first woman. She has an Honorary degree from her alma mater, Trinity College Dublin, 2009.
Seminar by Prof. Suresh Jesuthasan, Associate Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience in Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University
The slippery slope from fear to anxiety and depression: insights from zebra fish
Emotions are integral to life. They colour our experience, provide the impetus for action, and influence thinking. Strikingly, emotional responses are usually well suited to the needs of the moment, reflecting anticipated needs as well as current sensory stimuli. Here, using a combination of brain imaging, behaviour and genetic manipulation of zebrafish, I examine brain mechanisms that enable this precision in response. The focus is on systems that enable optimal defensive responses, as failure in this leads to conditions such as anxiety.
Emotions are integral to life. They colour our experience, provide the impetus for action, and influence thinking. Strikingly, emotional responses are usually well suited to the needs of the moment, reflecting anticipated needs as well as current sensory stimuli. Here, using a combination of brain imaging, behaviour and genetic manipulation of zebrafish, I examine brain mechanisms that enable this precision in response. The focus is on systems that enable optimal defensive responses, as failure in this leads to conditions such as anxiety.