DNA and the brain (In search of genes for mental illness)

This is the name of the public lecture that the legendary James Watson, the Nobel Prize winner, will give on July 3.

55 years ago, James Watson and Francis Crick made one of the key discoveries of the twentieth century – they found out that DNA has a double helix structure. Since then, our knowledge of the main molecule of life has greatly expanded. Today, the genomes of various animals and humans have already been deciphered, the functions of many genes have been clarified. But the great mystery – how DNA is triggered and how it affects the functioning of organs and the body as a system – has not yet been fully revealed.

One of the hottest areas of research today is genetics in psychiatry. James Watson, who will come to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will tell about how DNA works in the holy of holies of our body – in the brain, how genes affect the formation of schizophrenia, autism and other mental disorders.

He will present the results of the latest research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where the latest techniques are used to read information about mental illness in DNA. James Watson rates these techniques as revolutionary in psychiatric genetics.

The lecture, organized by the Dmitry Zimin Foundation "Dynasty" within the framework of the "Popularization of Science" program, will take place on July 3 in the Concert Hall of the Moscow House of Scientists (16 Prechistenka Street) at 18.00. The lecture will be accompanied by simultaneous translation. We invite everyone who is interested.

Information about the lecture will soon appear on the websites of the Dynasty Foundation and "Elements of Science".

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18.06.2008