Genomics & Next Gen Sequencing for Newbies

Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS) has become such a powerful tool in biology and genomics that it has become critical that we understand what it is and how it is used. From finding genes that give us cancer to designer babies to discovering the amazing partnership with the dark biological matter and trying to discover the path to immortality, please join us on this amazing journey.

The Next Generation DNA sequencing technology has totally transformed our understanding of genomics and has made most text book information invalid (refunds from Amazon?). In this half-day session we will learn why everyone is so excited by this incredible technology and how it is already beginning to change the human condition.

We will start with the basics, so you don't even need to know how to spell genomics to attend this class, and then we will move from the 2005 prehistoric era to today and then peek into the future. You will learn how this powerful technology is opening windows and doors into how the genome works and how we can use this information to find out how to select the "right" embryo for a pregnancy, if a pregnant mother is likely to have a normal child, to quickly determine the cause of a disease in a new born child, to see if we are likely to be cured or killed by a drug, or to predict if we will get cancer.

Open to all ages High School students to great-grandparents.

Price: $20 for non-members, $10 for members

Abizar Lakdawalla, Ph.D. is a a molecular biologist with experience in first and second generation DNA sequencer technologies. Dr. Lakdawalla worked at Applied Biosystems, at Illuminia, and Thermo Scientific. He brings 20 years of experience in genomics and a broad expertise in teaching.