SEMINAR SPEAKER: Dr. Ting Wu, Harvard Medical School
TITLE: “The potential of 2 – when homologs meet.”
ABSTRACT: The field of Genetics began with observations of inheritance and the inevitable curiosity that followed. For decades thereafter, research focused on unearthing the molecular basis of Genetics. Then, somewhere along the way, Genetics became a toolbox of parts that could take us beyond heredity. Thursday’s presentation will explore this toolbox, its potential to provide solutions, and the questions it generates. Then, on Friday, I will share the work my group has been doing to test the potential of a mysterious set of sequences to be fashioned into a tool for fighting disease. Time permitting, I will also share our efforts to visualize the human genome at super-resolution so that we might learn even more about this remarkable gem.
BIO: Ting Wu is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, where her group explores how the human genome is organized and how that organization contributes to inheritance and health. As part of this program, her group is studying a mysterious class of ~1,000 sequences that have resisted change for 300+ million years, and that they believe use a surprisingly simple way to protect us from disease. In addition, the laboratory develops and applies technologies for visualizing the genome at super-resolution. Finally, the laboratory is home to Personal Genetics Education and Dialogue (PGED.org), which promotes awareness and conversations about genetic technologies. PGED works in classrooms, provides curricula and teacher training, runs Congressional briefings, and works with communities of faith and the film and television industry.
VISSCHER LECTURESHIP IN GENETICS
The college’s Dr. Harrison C. Visscher ’51 and Dr. Robert D. Visscher ’51 Lectureship in Genetics, which was created to bring recognized scholars in the field of genetics to campus, premiered in the fall of 2013 with an address by Nobel Laureate Dr. Thomas R. Cech of the University of Colorado, Boulder. The biennial lectureship was established by Dr. Harrison C. Visscher and Dr. Robert D. Visscher, 1951 Hope graduates and twin brothers who each pursued careers in medicine. They practiced obstetrics and gynecology together for almost 20 years in Grand Rapids, and in 1965 initiated an obstetrics and gynecology residency training program at Blodgett Memorial Medical Center and Saint Mary’s Hospital. Harrison Visscher’s career included 15 years in Washington, D.C., as director of education for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Robert Visscher’s career included starting the first in vitro fertilization program in 1982 in western Michigan and serving as executive director of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Harrison Visscher died in December 2013, while Robert Visscher lives in Holland.
