Center presents inaugural Lasker Lecture Nov. 16

Legendary biologist and two-time Lasker laureate Dr. Sydney Brenner will present the inaugural Lasker Lecture, “Reading the Human Genome: Genes and Brains,” Monday, Nov. 16, 3-4:30 p.m. in Pelton Auditorium.

A great intellectual challenge for biology in the 21st Century will be to reconstruct the genomes of long-vanished organisms, and to unveil detailed, intricate paths of evolution. Brenner will speak on what the human genome sequence can tell us about our structure and us. Following Brenner's lecture, Dr. Marc Van Gilst will present "The New Genetics of Metabolism and Disease." Van Gilst is a Hutchinson Center basic scientist who studies how dietary intake affects metabolism.

Created by the Lasker Foundation as an annual event, the lectures will explore fundamental scientific questions and elucidate topics of pressing interest in medical research and clinical practice. The Lasker Lectures may also cover important topics in public health or discuss aspects by which public service can advance scientific practice.

Each event will consist of a pair of presentations: one by a Lasker Laureate and one by a young researcher. The Foundation will offer the lectures on a rotating basis at top research institutions across the country. Hutchinson Center President and Director Dr. Lee Hartwell is a Lasker laureate; he received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (aka "America's Nobel") in 1998, prior to receiving the Nobel Prize in 2001.

Brenner, 2002 Nobel laureate, is president and director of science at the Molecular Sciences Institute at La Jolla and Berkeley and distinguished research professor at The Salk Institute in La Jolla.

All are invited to the lecture, which will be televised in the Sze conference rooms to accommodate overflow from the auditorium. A reception will follow the talk. For those who cannot attend, a video of the lecture will be posted on the Lasker Foundation's Web site and on the Foundation’s YouTube page. For more information, contact Michelle Mudrock at mmudrock@fhcrc.org or (206) 667-1828.