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| | == Now planning meetings for the 2022 Season == |
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| | Please get in touch if you know of a suitable speaker or would like a specific topic addressed. |
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| == May Meeting: Giles Yeo, ''Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?'' ==
| | To keep informed, please sign up to our mailchimp list: |
| === May 16th, Strangers Room ===
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| Obesity may well be the world’s largest public health problem.
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| 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.
| | <mailchimpforms prefix="science-and-technology-group" account="c848bb9da2c85dd0281575c04" list="deb28a80da" type="subscribe" /> |
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| Although we are all exposed to these changes, only some of us are obese.
| | = 2022 Programme = |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
| | Dates for our meetings in 2020 are as follows (future dates are always provisional): |
| | We will put this back when it has some shape. |
| | {{2022 Programme}} |
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| [[Giles Yeo|Read More ...]]
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| == June Meeting: Giles Yeo, ''T Cells and the CAR-T Study'' ==
| | I am currently working on the 2022 programme. I hope to have talks on the following subjects: |
| === June 21st ===
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| T Cells and the CAR-T Study - Meeting for the 21st June[edit]
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| Paul Veys collects immune system cells from the patient, modifies them to help to recognize his cancer cells. The modified cells, cultured in the lab, are then injected back into the patient. This allows the patients own immune system to recognize the cancer cells that were previously immune to it, and kill them. The advantage of this treatment is that the cells, because they are accepted by the patients own immune system, can remain in the body for an extended period and provide extended protection against recurrence of the disease.
| | - Dark Matter, |
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| This is called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy, or CAR-T therapy for short. The cells extracted from the patient are T-cells. They are genetically engineered to produce special receptors on their surface to recognize specific targeted cells from the patients own tumor. These receptors are the Chimeric Antigen Receptors. 'Chimeric' because they incorporate genetic information from more than two organisms. Once the T-cells are produced in sufficient quantities they can be injected into the patient.
| | - Quantum computing, |
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| T-cells are a key component of our immune system that fights off infection, and indeed any 'foreign' protein that our bodies are exposed to. Cancer cells evade the attention of our immune system. By using gene editing techniques it is possible to program T cells to recognize and eliminate cancer cells that would otherwise go undetected by our bodies. This is a very promising area of work, although it is still experimental and in early stages. Pioneering work has been done at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and we are delighted to welcome Prof Paul Veys to speak to the meeting of the Reform Club Science Group.
| | - Cyptocurrencies, |
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| [[Paul Veys|Read More ...]]
| | - Applied Artificial Intelligence (speaker from DeepMind), |
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| = 2017 Programme =
| | - Exploring Space (Nicole Stott), |
| Dates for 2017 are as follows (all meeting are on Wednesdays, usually the 3rd one of each month):
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| {| class="wikitable"
| | - Autonomous vehicle liability, |
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| ! Month !! Day of Month !! Speaker !! Title
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| | February || 15th || Prof [[Martyn Thomas]] || Cybersecurity
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| | March || 15th || Prof [[Anil Seth]] || Machine Consciousness
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| | April || 19th || Prof [[Peter Wilson]] || Anti-Microbial Resistance.
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| | May || 16th, <!-- whichever is vacated by Pol Comm, 23rd (alternative, but near to Thackeray), or 31st (late in the month, not ideal) --> || Dr [[Giles Yeo]] || Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?
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| | June || 21st || Prof [[Paul Veys]] || CAR-T Study, Anthony Nolan.
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| | September || 20th || Dr [[Paolo Tasca]] || Bitcoins and the Blockchain
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| | October || 18th || Prof [[J A Madrigal]] || Stem cell therapies.
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| | November || 15th || Dr [[Uday Phadke]] || Innovation
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| |}
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| = 2018 Programme =
| | - Use of psychedelic drugs in treatment of mental illness, |
| Dates for 2018 are as follows (usually 3rd Wed of each month):
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| {| class="wikitable"
| | - The Chinese social credit system (or related). |
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| ! Month !! Day of Month !! Speaker !! Title
| | If you have a comment, please get in touch, especially if you can refer me to a suitable speaker on any of the topics above. |
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| | February || 21st || ||
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| | [[FAQ]] |
| | March || 14th || ||
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| | April || 25th || ||
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| | May || 23rd || ||
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| | June || 20th || ||
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| | September || 11th || ||
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| | October || 24th || ||
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| | November || 28th || ||
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| |}
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Now planning meetings for the 2022 Season
Please get in touch if you know of a suitable speaker or would like a specific topic addressed.
To keep informed, please sign up to our mailchimp list:
<mailchimpforms prefix="science-and-technology-group" account="c848bb9da2c85dd0281575c04" list="deb28a80da" type="subscribe" />
2022 Programme
I am currently working on the 2022 programme. I hope to have talks on the following subjects:
- Dark Matter,
- Quantum computing,
- Cyptocurrencies,
- Applied Artificial Intelligence (speaker from DeepMind),
- Exploring Space (Nicole Stott),
- Autonomous vehicle liability,
- Use of psychedelic drugs in treatment of mental illness,
- The Chinese social credit system (or related).
If you have a comment, please get in touch, especially if you can refer me to a suitable speaker on any of the topics above.
FAQ