Future Seminars
Seminar Colour Guide:
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| Company Representative | Tuesday, 11 September 2018, 11:00Optogenetics combined with Flow CytometryKathrin Brenker, Opto Biolabs, GermanyHost: Malte PaulsenRoom 13-518 a + b, EMBL Heidelberg Abstract: Optogenetic tools allow isolated, functional investigations of almost any signaling molecule within complex signaling pathways. A major obstacle is the controlled delivery of light to the cell sample and hence the most popular tools for optogenetic studies are microscopy-based cell analyses and in vitro experiments. The flow cytometer has major advantages over a microscope, including the ability to rapidly measure thousands of cells at single cell resolution. However, it is not yet widely used in optogenetics. Opto Biolabs, a spin-off from the University of Freiburg, developed a device that combines the power of optogenetics and flow cytometry. This device illuminates cells at specific wavelengths, light intensities and temperatures during flow cytometric measurements. To demonstrate its utility, we characterized the photoswitching kinetics of Dronpa proteins in vivo and in real time and measured light-induced calcium kinetics. This protocol can be adapted to almost all optically controlled substances and substantially expands the set of possible experiments. More importantly, it will greatly simplify the discovery and development of new optogenetic tools. |
| Science and Society | Tuesday, 11 September 2018, 14:00Genetic history: What ancient and modern DNA tells us about our human pastStephan Schiffels, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, GermanyHost: Halldór StefánssonLarge Operon, EMBL Heidelberg Abstract: Our human past leaves traces in our genomes, via population size changes, admixture events and migration patterns. Via genetic analyses, we can therefore read human history from our genomes, which adds critically to our growing body of pre-historical evidence from archaeology and linguistics. In this talk, Stephan Schiffels will introduce the field of historical population genetics, and showcase three examples: First, he will show how our genomes contain information about the origins of our species in Africa, in the deep past. Second, Schiffels will describe how he and his team used ancient DNA from Anglo-Saxon remains in Great Britain to investigate the dynamic and impact of the Anglo-Saxon migration period. Third, Schiffels will introduce his most recent project, in which the scientists use ancient and modern DNA to investigate the peopling of North America. |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| EMBL Distinguished Visitor Lecture | Monday, 24 September 2018, 16:00To be announcedMasayo Takahashi, Riken Center for Developmental Biology, JapanHost: Anne EphrussiLarge Operon, EMBL Heidelberg |
| EMBL Distinguished Visitor Lecture | Tuesday, 9 October 2018, 11:00To be announcedCraig Thompson, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USAHost: Joel Perez-PerriLarge Operon, EMBL Heidelberg |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| Science and Society | Tuesday, 16 October 2018, 18:00Der Tod - ein Kunstgriff der Natur, das Leben zu erhaltenVolker Storch, Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, GermanyHost: Halldór StefánssonPrint Media Academy, EMBL Heidelberg |
| Seminar given by an external postdoc | |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| EMBL Distinguished Visitor Lecture | |
| Science and Society | Friday, 9 November 2018, 14:00How should we value "novelty" in science?Barak Cohen, Washington University School of Medicine, USAHost: Halldór StefánssonLarge Operon, EMBL Heidelberg Abstract: Scientist are under increasing pressure to do "novel" research. Journals and funding agencies often specifically list novelty as a key criterion for judging the impact of research. In this lecture, Barak Cohen will examine whether novelty is an important component of good science and will introduce concepts from philosophy and sociology to argue that we currently over emphasise novelty in science. Furthermore, Cohen will discuss the negative effects of this emphasis and will suggest alternatives measures of good science. |
| External Faculty Speaker | |
| EMBL Distinguished Visitor Lecture |