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DMMC COURSES & WORKSHOPS

MODEL SYSTEMS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS
23 & 30 March, 27 April and 4, 11 & 18 May 2006 (1000-1300 Thursdays)
Venue:
Seminar Room 2, UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research (location)

Online application is closed
Online application period: 20 Feb - 13 Mar 2006
Application for this course is open to postgraduate students and staff at TCD, UCD, RCSI and affiliated hospitals. Those interested in attending who are based outside these institutions should contact education@dmmc.ie before applying online.

Model organisms are tractable experimental systems used in scientific research to provide information about more complex species, including humans, that are more difficult to study directly. Because fundamental biological pathways and the proteins that execute them have been highly conserved throughout evolution, model organisms have provided significant insight into the basic properties of all living cells. Model organism research is therefore relevant to human biology, and numerous experimental models of human disease have been established.

This course aims to demonstrate the power of model experimental systems in biomedical research by highlighting examples of major scientific breakthroughs achieved in various model organisms. The course brings together Irish and international experts who utilise model experimental systems in their own research. The model systems to be discussed are:

  • Monkey virus SV40
  • Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
  • Mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana
  • Brewer’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
  • African clawed frog Xenopus laevis
  • Zebrafish Danio rerio
  • House mouse Mus musculus
  • Fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster
  • Canine Canis familiaris

Since model organisms have been indispensable in the development of innovative methodologies and technologies, each lecture will also include a Technical Spotlight that describes a powerful experimental tool developed in the model system.

Follow the links below to read an abstract of each lecture, and access supplementary resources. Abstracts will appear as soon as we receive them.

Thu 23 Mar; 1000-1300
1000 Course introduction & overview
         Dr Rosemary Clyne, UCD  resources
1030 Comparative Genomics Prof Ken Wolfe, TCD
         abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Simian virus 40 (SV40): DNA replication
         Technical Spotlight: restriction endonucleases
         Dr Rosemary Clyne, UCD  abstract

Thu 30 Mar; 1000-1300
1000 Caenorhabditis elegans: apoptosis
         Technical Spotlight: RNAi
         Prof Michael Hengartner, University of Zurich
         abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Arabidopsis thaliana: eukaryotic genetics and
         functional genomics

         Technical Spotlight: knock-out and gene/enhancer
         trap lines
         Dr Charles Spillane, University College Cork
         abstract

Thu 27 Apr; 1000-1300
1000 Yeast: prion research
         Technical Spotlight: infecting yeast with prions
         Dr Gary Jones, NUI Maynooth  abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Yeast: the cell cycle
         Technical Spotlight: conditional mutagenesis
         Prof Noel Lowndes, NUI Galway  abstract

Thu 4 May; 1000-1300
1000 Xenopus laevis: using eggs and embryos for
         cell cycle research

         Technical Spotlight: cell cycle extracts
         Claire Moran (UCD Xenopus Biology Group headed
         by Dr Carmel Hensey)  abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Zebrafish: models of human disease
         Technical Spotlight: morpholinos
         Dr Lucy Byrnes,
NUI Galway  abstract

Thu 11 May; 1000-1300
1000 Mouse: transgenic and knockout mice in prion
         research

         Technical Spotlight: transgenic mouse production
         Dr Mike Scott, UCD
  abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Mouse: knock-out technology and NSAID drug
         development

         Technical Spotlight: targeted disruption of
         cyclooxygenases 1 and 2
         Dr Sandra Austin, UCD  abstract

Thu 18 May; 1000-1300
1000 Drosophila: probing nervous system function
         using behavioural genetics

         Technical Spotlight: P-element mediated gene
         engineering and mutagenesis
         Prof Robert Reenan, University of Connecticut
         Health Centre 
 abstract
1115 Coffee/Tea
1145 Canis familiaris: the pathophysiology of
         narcolepsy

         Technical Spotlight: mapping of common and
         complex disorders: the canine potential
         Dr Kay Nolan, UCD  abstract

Course Coordinator
Dr Rosemary Clyne (UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research)

Course Instructors
Dr Sandra Austin (UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research)
Dr Lucy Byrnes (Department of Biochemistry, National University of Ireland, Galway)
Prof Michael Hengartner (Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Dr Carmel Hensey (UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research)
Dr Gary Jones (Department of Biology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth)
Prof Noel Lowndes (Department of Biochemistry, National University of Ireland, Galway)
Dr Kay Nolan (School of Biological and Environmental Science, UCD
)
Prof Robert Reenan (University of Connecticut Health Centre, USA)
Dr Mike Scott (UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research)
Dr Charles Spillane (Department of Biochemistry, University College Cork)
Prof Ken Wolfe (Smurfit Institute of Genetics, TCD)