Science and Technology Group: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 07:46, 12 April 2017


April Meeting: Peter Wilson, The Rise of Antimicrobial Resistance

April 19th, Strangers Room

We may be witnessing the end of antibiotics as we know them. Penicillin is no longer the miracle drug it once was. Bacteria have evolved to beat it at its own game. The same goes for most other antibiotics. The problem is so severe that drug manufacturers have given up the unequal fight. They no longer sink significant sums into developing drugs that will retain their efficacy for a shorter and shorter period. This solves a problem for their investors, but creates a bigger problem for any of us that might be threatened with infection, which is all of us.

Without antibiotics, life will be very different. We will be afraid to take risks of coming into contact with infection. We will be afraid to play contact sports, in case we get an injury which might require even minor surgery. We will have to be very careful about how we live our everyday lives.

Peter Wilson is a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospitals. He was trained at Cambridge and UCL and became a consultant in 1990. His main interests lie in antimicrobial chemotherapy and infection control and he has responsibility for critical care.

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May Meeting: Giles Yeo, Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?

May 16th, Strangers Room

Obesity may well be the world’s largest public health problem.

The recent rapid increase in obesity must be down to changes in our lifestyle and in the types of food we eat. It is clear that our environment has changed a lot over the past fifty years. People take much less exercise and consume far more calories than ever before.

Although we are all exposed to these changes, only some of us are obese.

Our response to this changed environment depenfileds on our genetic make-up. Twin studies estimate that 40% to 70% of the variability of our weight may be due to genetic factors.

Once we realize this, we can use genetics as a tool to understand human obesity. The focus of Dr Yeo’s group is on the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity. It has made major advances in understanding the biology of appetite control. It appears that some of us simply feel hungrier all the time and, as a result, eat more.

Dr Yeo will challenge the prevailing view that obese people are bad, lazy and lacking in moral fibre. He argues rather that they are fighting their biology, at least in most cases. Society will have to accept this before it can come up with strategies to tackle the problem successfully.

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2017 Programme

Dates for 2017 are as follows (all meeting are on Wednesdays, usually the 3rd one of each month):

Month Day of Month Speaker Title
February 15th Prof Martyn Thomas Cybersecurity
March 15th Prof Anil Seth Machine Consciousness
April 19th Prof Peter Wilson Anti-Microbial Resistance.
May 16th, Dr Giles Yeo Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?
June 21st Prof Paul Veys CAR-T Study, Anthony Nolan.
September 20th Dr Paolo Tasca Bitcoins and the Blockchain
October 18th Prof J A Madrigal Stem cell therapies.
November 15th Dr Uday Phadke Innovation

2018 Programme

Dates for 2018 are as follows (usually 3rd Wed of each month):

Month Day of Month Speaker Title
February 21st
March 14th
April 25th
May 23rd
June 20th
September 11th
October 24th
November 28th