<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><h3 style="font-weight: bold; ">KNIGHT SEMINAR: February 8 (MIT, E19-623, 4pm)</h3><h3 style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><p><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000">New Science RNA silencing-future science Convergence</font> </strong><br><strong><a href="http://web.mit.edu/sharplab/shortbio.html">Phillip Sharp</a><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000">, </font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000">MIT Institute professor in molecular biology and biochemistry</font><strong><br></strong><strong><br></strong></p></span></h3><p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><strong><font color="red"></font></strong></p><div style="text-align: justify; ">Much of Dr. Sharp's scientific work has been conducted at MIT's Center for Cancer Research (now the Koch Institute), which he joined in 1974 and directed from 1985 to 1991. He subsequently led the Department of Biology from 1991 to 1999 before assuming the directorship of the McGovern Institute from 2000-2004. His research interests have centered on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His landmark achievement was the discovery of RNA splicing in 1977. This work provided one of the first indications of the startling phenomenon of “discontinuous genes” in mammalian cells. The discovery that genes contain nonsense segments that are edited out by cells in the course of utilizing genetic information is important in understanding the genetic causes of cancer and other diseases. This discovery, which fundamentally changed scientists' understanding of the structure of genes, earned Dr. Sharp the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His lab has now turned its attention to understanding how RNA molecules act as switches to turn genes on and off (RNA interference). These newly discovered processes have revolutionized cell biology and could potentially generate a new class of therapeutics.</div><div style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><strong><font color="red">**************************</font></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><strong><font color="red"></font></strong></p><strong><font color="red"></font></strong><strong><font color="red"></font></strong><div><h3 style="font-weight: bold; ">KNIGHT SEMINAR: February 10 (MIT, E19-623) <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#ED2341">This seminar starts at 4:30pm.</font></h3></div><div><strong>Functional Specificity in the Human Brain <br><a href="http://web.mit.edu/bcs/nklab/">Nancy Kanwisher,</a></strong> Investigator at the McGovern Institute and Professor in MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div apple-content-edited="true"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>The human brain includes more than 40 different areas devoted to vision. Nancy Kanwisher uses brain imaging and behavioral testing to study how these areas contribute to our perception of the visual world. Her lab has identified several regions of the brain that play specialized roles in the perception of specific categories of visual stimuli such as faces, places, and bodies. Kanwisher is also interested in understanding typical and atypical human brain development. She is heading an ambitious project to explore the origins of autism using new pediatric neuroimaging technologies.</div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></span></div></div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>Eric Strattman</div><div>Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT</div><div>E19-623</div><div>77 Massachusetts Avenue</div><div>Cambridge MA 02139</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></body></html>