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The 2007-2008 Whitehead Seminar Series for High School Teachers: Controlling Genes

[2007-08 seminars]

The 2007-2008 Series is completed. The 2008-2009 program will begin in October. More details will be available in September.

Your body comprises trillions of cells, and each one contains the same DNA, encoding identical genes. But just a fraction of those genes are active in any given cell. Thus a brain cell produces dopamine, serotonin and other “brain” chemicals rather than keratin, fats and oils, which are characteristic of a skin cell. Scientists are working to understand the switches and control mechanisms that regulate gene expression and thus determine a cell’s identity.

Join us this year for Whitehead Institute’s Lecture Series for High School Teachers, “Controlling Genes.” The series will feature talks by world-class researchers who are exploring DNA packaging, transcription factors, microRNAs and other regulatory mechanisms. Their work could provide a boost to regenerative medicine and lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.

The first seminar of this year’s program will be held on Monday, October 15, at Whitehead’s McGovern Auditorium (after October, lectures will be held the first Monday of every month through June). Each session will begin at 4 p.m. and include a lecture and a working dinner, ending approximately at 7:00 pm.

As in previous years, we will match teachers with Whitehead partners—Whitehead scientists who will serve as a resource for you during the school year. The partners are eager to answer your questions, discuss their fields of expertise, and even visit your school to meet your students. Teachers who have taken advantage of their partnership in past years have found it to be an invaluable relationship.

For more information on the teacher program, please contact Amy Tremblay at tremblay@wi.mit.edu or 617-258-7270.

Participating teachers may be eligible to earn up to 27 Professional Development Points toward recertification.

[program FAQ]

Past Programs
2006-2007: The Awesome Power of Genetics
2005-2006: New Drugs for Old Diseases
2003-2004: Life in Process: Evolution, Diversity and Change
2002-2003: Biological Challenges to Humanity: Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases
2001-2002: Neuroscience Today: Getting Behind the Mind’s Eye
2000-2001: Beyond the Scientific Frontier
1999-2000: Genomics, Genetics, and Evolution
1998-1999: Bioengineering
1997-1998: Molecular Medicine
1996-1997: Biotechnology
1995-1996: Evolution
1994-1995: Genetic Models for the High School Classroom
1992-1993: Molecular Approaches to Human Disease
1991-1992: Molecules of Life: Exploring Science at the Whitehead Institute

Funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Biogen Idec Foundation.

Last updated June 11, 2008.

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