Ancient Bloodsuckers, Disposable Genes, and What It All Means

Newswise — Watch a live stream of the NIGMS Director’s Early Career Investigator Lecture to find out which organism:

• Has a backbone but no jawbone.
• Contains two different genomes.
• Can make a full recovery after its spinal cord is severed.
• Is a culinary delicacy in some places but a predatory parasite that decimates native species elsewhere.

OK, we’ll tell you. It’s the sea lamprey. Jeramiah Smith, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, will describe how his research on this organism is shedding light on cancer biology, tissue regeneration, and vertebrate evolution.

The 3^rd annual NIGMS Director’s Early Career Investigator Lecture is titled “Ancient Bloodsuckers, Disposable Genes, and What It All Means.“ It will occur on Tuesday, Apr. 17 at 2 p.m. on the campus of the National Institutes of Health.

Open to everyone in the scientific community, the Early Career Investigator lectures are designed to introduce students at the undergraduate level and beyond to cutting-edge science while inspiring them to pursue biomedical research careers. After a 30-minute lecture, Smith will answer questions from students about his research and career path. Questions can be submitted in advance via [email protected] or using #ecilecture on Twitter during the lecture.

Link to videocast: https://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=27347&bhcp=1

Videocast will be archived at the link above beginning a couple of days after the lecture.