Lecture location: 19 Washington Square North, Events Space
To attend, please RVSP to 19wsn.rsvp@nyu.edu
Students majoring in science at NYUAD will have the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge, contemporary research from leaders in their fields. The same topics will be discussed in "Foundations of Science," which is an formative course in their academic careers that integrates basic science and math. This series will bring to New York extraordinary scientists whose lectures will dovetail with the course content and be made available to students both on the Square and in Abu Dhabi.
Organized by Claude Desplan Silver Professor; Professor of Biology, NYU
Lupus and Snurps: From Bedside to Bench and Back Again
February 22, 2012 | 6:30-8:00 PM
Joan Steitz Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale School of Medicine; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Investigator
Whereas most advances in medicine proceed from bench to beside, this lecture will treat a rare instance where clinical knowledge impacted basic understanding of how cells function. The discovery of the role of noncoding RNAs in the removal of interruptions in gene sequences (splicing) is currently having an impact on the design of therapies for multiple genetic diseases.
The Electrical System of Life
March 26, 2012 | 6:30-8:00 PM
Roderick MacKinnon Professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics, Rockefeller University
Living organisms are electrical. Our brains instruct our muscles to move by transmitting information, which is encoded in the form of electrical impulses that travel along nerve fibers. Our ability to experience our world through vision, smell, taste, hearing, and touch depends upon the transmission of electrical signals. Even our ability to think is based upon the complex electrical interactions of neurons in our central nervous system. How does 'animal electricity' work? How does it relate to inanimate electrical devices such as electric toasters, televisions, and computers? The history of 'animal electricity' is interesting not only because it leads us to an understanding of the subject, but also because it exemplifies the strange and unexpected manner in which scientific ideas evolve. In this lecture Dr. Roderick MacKinnon will describe from a historical perspective how studies of 'animal electricity' actually advanced the understanding of electricity in physics and explain our modern understanding of life's electrical system.
