Scientific Colloquium
June 15, 2016, 3:30 p.m.
SPECIAL LOCATION: Building 33, Room H114

"CRISPR: Enabling the 21st Century Biological Revolution"  

CRISPR, an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, is a novel genetic engineering tool that permits biologist to easily edit genetic information in any living organism. Although only recently discovered, this technique has been refined so rapidly that it is currently being used around the world to eliminate incurable diseases, modify foods, and even create designer humans. The lecture will give an overview of the historical background, most exciting uses, and ethical issues surrounding CRISPR.

About the Speaker:

Rafael Casellas is the head of the Genomics & Immunity laboratory at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. He received a Ph.D. in 2002 from the Rockefeller University in New York, where he studied molecular immunology with Howard Hughes investigator Michel Nussenzweig. In 2003, following a one year post-doc at Caltech under Novel Laureate David Baltimore, Dr. Casellas was hired by the NIH, where he is currently a senior investigator and branch chief. His research focuses on the nuclear events that drive lymphocyte activation and tumor development. To achieve its goals, the Casellas laboratory makes use of mouse genetics, high-resolution microscopy, genomics, bioinformatics, and CRISPR editing tools.

                    Return to Schedule