Fermilab Lecture Series Presents Dr. Martin Chalfie, 2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Green flourescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria has become an almost ubiquitous research tool in biological research, being used in an ever-increasing variety of ways. This talk reviews the history of GFP and shows how this genetically-encoded marker, which can be visualized in living tissues and does not require additional cofactors, is currently being used. The development of GFP as a biological marker is a particularly goo9d example of the importance of basic research on bioluminescent organisms.

Location: Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Date/Time: Friday, March 19, 2010 8:00pm

Cost:   $7 Reserve tickets by calling 630-840-2787.  For information visit Fermilab Culture.

Born in Chicago, Martin Chalfie received both his AB (Biochemistry 1969) and PhD (Physiology 1977) from Harvard University. He then did postdoctoral research with Dr. Sydney Brenner at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University since 1982. Chalfie’s primary research interest is in the genetic basis of neuronal differentiation and function. Most of his research has centered on understanding mechanical sensing, but it was his demonstration of the use of GFP as a biological marker that led to his sharing the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien.

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