Of Genomes, Cells, Mice and Men
‘New Frontiers’ symposium kicks off celebration
By Eva Emerson
A day of celebration for the USC Molecular & Computational Biology Building began with a symposium highlighting the scientific fields expected to thrive in the new facility.
Four of the nation’s leaders in computational and experimental genomics headlined the “New Frontiers in Biological Sciences” symposium, hosted by USC College.
Bringing together these “world-class scientists from several area institutions symbolizes our intention to make this new facility a regional resource,” said USC College Dean Joseph Aoun.
During the first session, University Professor Michael Waterman, the USC Associates Chair in Natural Sciences and an early pioneer in computational biology, described the growth of the field since the 1960s. He also discussed his development of a key computational technique that has powered some of his most important work.
Former USC computational biologist Pavel Pevzner, now a leader in bioinformatics at UC San Diego, began his talk by stating the important role that USC is playing in computational biology. “Half of today’s stars in bioinformatics have come from USC,” he said.
From recent work comparing the human genome with the mouse genome, Pevzner indicated that despite some differences in appearance and habits, men and mice are very similar genetically.
After a short break, USC’s Myron Goodman, professor of biological sciences and chemistry, spoke of his discovery of “sloppier copiers”—a class of DNA-copying enzymes prone to errors and thought to play a role in the generation of genetic variation. He also discussed his more recent work on proteins involved in DNA copying and the immune system.
Mel Simon, professor of biological sciences at Caltech, described his new collaborative project on how cells receive and process signals.
He praised USC College for its vision in building the new facility and stressed the critical role that graduates of the program in molecular and computational biology would play in the life sciences of the new millennium.
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