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SUMMARY:Precision and Reproducibility in Development
DTSTART:20150602T100000
DTSTAMP:20260410T174103Z
UID:0182c73fc4324377f85305b7a597c43a1f0a0c91dfef9237eb4d39f7
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Thomas Gregor\, Princeton University\, Princeton\, NJ (U
 SA)\nBIOENGINEERING SEMINARAbstract:\nIdentical body plans across a specie
 s result from precise and reproducible embryonic development. However\, th
 e environment for developmental processes can be quite variable\, and cruc
 ial signals inside the embryo are carried by so few molecules that we migh
 t expect development to be noisy.  It is thus unclear how precision is ac
 hieved along the developmental path.  Should we imagine that every step i
 n the process is sloppy\, so that the result is reproducible only because 
 of error correction mechanisms?  Or might each step be more reliable than
  previously intuited\, squeezing as much information as possible out of a 
 limited number of molecules?  Using the fruit fly as a model system\, our
  recent work shows that from the macroscopic features of the body plan pre
 cision can be traced\, through several steps\, back to the counting of ess
 ential signaling molecules placed in the egg by the mother.  Absolute con
 centrations of molecules are reproducible to better than 10%\, which trans
 lates to a spatial accuracy in a developing embryo sufficient to distingui
 sh each cell from its neighbor\, arguably the highest precision that the o
 rganism could achieve.  These results argue for an evolutionary design pr
 inciple by which developmental systems operate near an optimal level of pr
 ecision.Bio:\n06/2009 to present\nPrinceton University\, Princeton\, NJ US
 A\nAssistant Professor\, Department of Physics\nLewis-Sigler Institute for
  Integrative Genomics\n11/2006 to 05/2009\nUniversity of Tokyo\, Tokyo\, J
 apan\nJSPS Fellow\, Department of Basic Sciences\n02/2005 to 10/2006\nPrin
 ceton University\, Princeton\, NJ USA\nHHMI Postdoctoral Fellow\, Departme
 nt of Molecular Biology\nJanuary 2005\nPh.D. in Biophysics\, Princeton Uni
 versity\nThesis Topic: "Biophysics Problems in Embryonic Development."\nAd
 visor: Professor William Bialek\nJanuary 2001\nM.S. in Chemistry\, Princet
 on University\nNovember 1998\nUniversité de Genève\, Geneva\, Switzerlan
 d\nM.S. in Physics
LOCATION:SV1717a http://map.epfl.ch/?room=sv1717a
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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