Eighteenth Annual Darwin College Lecture Series 2003
Changing Science and Society
Lecture 5 : 14 February 2003
DNA and Cancer
Professor Ron Laskey
Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge
Ron Laskey started his career at Oxford, followed by post-doctoral posts on the scientific
staff of Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.
There he discovered signals that direct proteins to the cell nucleus and invented a range of
sensitive methods for detecting radio-isotopes. In 1983 he moved to the Charles Darwin Chair
in the University of Cambridge, first in the Department of Zoology, then in the Wellcome CRC
Institute and now as Director of the MRC Cancer Cell Unit in the Hutchison/MRC Research
Centre. His group discovered "importins", receptors for the signals that direct proteins to
the cell nucleus.
Throughout most of his career, Ron Laskey's main interest has been how cells control DNA
synthesis. He has developed cell-free systems that allow these processes to be studied in a
test tube, in extracts from human cells. Some of the proteins studied in this work are
emerging as promising markers for the development of screening tests for the commonest
cancers.
Ron Laskey is a Fellow of Darwin College and a Fellow of the Royal Society. His work has
been recognised by awards from several countries, including the Louis Jeantet Prize for
Medicine. He has organised and edited two series of Darwin College Lectures. On a lighter
note , he has written and recorded two albums called Songs for Cynical Scientists and More
Songs for Cynical Scientists.
The lectures are given at 5.30 p.m. in The Lady Mitchell Hall,
Sidgwick Avenue, with an adjacent overflow theatre with live TV
coverage. Each lecture is typically attended by 600 people so you
must arrive early to ensure a place.
|
