3 July 2012

Nobel Laureate to deliver 2012 Peter Garland Lecture

Professor Roger Tsien, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will deliver the annual Peter Garland Lecture at the University of Dundee on Wednesday July 4th.

The Peter Garland Lecture is the most prestigious lecture in the calendar at the College of Life Sciences at Dundee. Peter Garland was the first Professor of Biochemistry in Dundee and under his leadership from 1970-1984 it became the UK's strongest life sciences department.

Professor Garland and his wife Elizabeth will attend the lecture.

Professor Tsien, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will speak on "Breeding and building molecules to spy on cell signals and disease processes".

Roger Tsien's fascination with colors has revolutionised the fields of cell biology and neurobiology by allowing scientists to peer inside living cells and watch the behavior of molecules in real time. He is renowned for developing colorful dyes to track the movement of calcium within cells and has genetically modified molecules that make jellyfish and corals glow, creating fluorescent colors in a dazzling variety of hues. These multicolored fluorescent proteins have been used by scientists worldwide to track where and when certain genes are expressed in cells or in whole organisms.

He is now building on his fluorescent protein work to develop a novel way to image and possibly even deliver specially targeted drugs to cancer tumors.

The lecture takes place in the MSI Building at the College of Life Sciences at 4pm on Wednesday July 4th and all are welcome to attend. The lecture is followed by a wine reception at 5pm.

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Roddy Isles
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