Journeys in Biology - DNA and the Genome Revolution

Journeys in Biology - DNA and the Genome Revolution with Dr Darren Gowers, University of Portsmouth
Wed 17 April; doors open 7:15, talk starts at 8:00.
In this talk, Darren Gowers will take us on a tour down into the microscopic world of a cell and explore what makes them tick. We will start with a description of the scales of biological life, from ecosystems down to the tiny molecules of life. We will look at why the 3D shape of molecules like DNA and protein are essential to their function, and the key role of enzymes in allowing reactions to proceed on a useful timescale. We will discuss the central role of evolution in shaping life and explore various examples of how diseases can be explained, diagnosed and cured by a clear understanding of molecular interactions. We will also explore a few current highlights from recent genomic and gene-editing technologies.
Darren Gowers writes: Since my college days in Brighton, I have been fascinated by biology and the amazing diversity of life found on this planet. I have been fortunate in following a path in bioscience research that has allowed me to understand life from a cellular level. This has been via a PhD at Southampton (1998), postdoc at Bristol (2004), to my present position as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biology at UoP. My research area is Biochemistry - the study of macromolecules, genes and cells. My group works on proteins that bind to DNA, with the aim of understanding how these affect gene control in healthy and diseased cells.