Gairdner Foundation Presentation: "Chromatin and stem cell fate are impacted globally by short telomeres" - Dr. Lea Harrington

Event Date: 
Thursday, March 8, 2018 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm EST
Event Location: 
ATAC 5036

Presentation by Dr. Lea Harrington, Gairdner Foundation guest speaker.

Theme:  Protein coated DNA structures and chromosome ends called TELOMERES.

About the Talk
The nucleoprotein structures at chromosome ends, or telomeres, help protect our genome against DNA loss or recombination. The enzyme that replenishes telomeres, called telomerase reverse trancriptase, ensures that telomere length and integrity is maintained during cell proliferation and in germ cells from generation to generation. Without telomerase, telomeres erode and eventually result in germline infertility, and loss of cell proliferation or viability in other cell types. We recently described an unexpected outcome of telomere erosion that permits certain cell types to revert back to a more proliferative, germline-like state. We will discuss the mechanisms by which this reversion may occur, and what the implications may be for age-associated disease and cancer.
 
About the Speaker
Dr. Lea Harrington is this year's guest speaker from the Gairdner Foundation.  She is a medical researcher in genetics who has been researching protein-coated DNA structures at chromosome ends, known as telomeres to study what the implications may be for disease and cancer.
 
For full event poster, please click here.