Dixie Forum to host lecture on genome editing technology
Dixie Forum to host lecture on genome editing technology
Discussing genome editing, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at The University of Utah, Dana Carroll, will present “The CRISPR Revolution: Technology and Applications” at this week’s installment of Dixie State University’s weekly lecture series Dixie Forum: A Window on the World.
Carroll will lecture from noon to 12:50 p.m. on Nov. 14 in the Dunford Auditorium of the Browning Resource Center on the Dixie State campus. Admission is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.
Genome editing is technology that enables modification to essentially any gene in a cell or organism. It has revolutionized the practice of genetics, allowing for precise and targeted cell breakage. The latest embodiment, CRISPR, has further simplified the method and made it more accessible. Carroll’s presentation will describe the process and highlight some applications of the technology that are being made in medicine and in agriculture. Carroll will also discuss societal issues that come along with these applications.
Carroll is considered a pioneer in the development and applications of genome editing with programmable nucleases. His research group was the first to show that zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) stimulate targeted mutagenesis and gene replacement in living cells and whole organisms. He received the Novitski Prize from the Genetics Society of America in 2012, the H.A. Sober Lectureship by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2014, and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013. Carroll continues to further pursue research in current genome editing technologies.
Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George and DSU communities to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation. Dixie Forum will be taking an intermission for Thanksgiving next week, but will return on Nov. 28 with a presentation by Dr. Rick Miller.
For more information about Dixie State University’s Dixie Forum series, contact DSU Forum Coordinator John Burns at 435-879-4712 or burns@utahtech.edu or visit humanities.utahtech.edu/the-dixie-forum.