Plenary Session
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Dr. Andrew Z. Fire  

Session III:
Molecular Switches during Development
Thursday, September 25, 11:00 a.m.-noon
Alumni Hall, 7th Floor Auditorium

 

Andrew Z. Fire, Ph.D.
Mellon Lecturer

     
Andrew Z. Fire, Ph.D., a microbiologist at Carnegie Institution of Washington and an adjunct professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, will share C. elegansinsights from his study of RNA interference (RNAi) in relation to the regulation of genes during development and the suppression of viral infections. In 1997, Dr. Fire, along with Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts and their teams, discovered the process now known as RNAi in which double-stranded RNA is utilized by cells as a mobile signal to inhibit expression of specific genes. RNAi opens vast new possibilities for genetic manipulation to scientists. Science magazine described a string of recent RNA discoveries, including RNAi, in its 2002 "Breakthrough of the Year" article, and Drs. Fire and Mello recently received the prestigious Award in Molecular Biology from the National Academy of Sciences for their work.
     
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