Past event
Saints Talk: Professor Malcolm White The bacterial roots of the human immune system
Development are delighted to invite you to the next instalment in our Saints Talk series from Professor Malcolm White, ‘The bacterial roots of the human immune system” on Tuesday 3 October at 5.15pm BST via Microsoft Teams.
All living things, since the dawn of life, have been attacked by viruses – parasites that need to take over host cells to replicate and spread infection. Cells have developed many forms of defence against viruses, and viruses in turn have found ways to overcome these defences. Although arising from fundamental “blue skies” research, the discovery of the bacterial CRISPR immune system 15 years ago offers a way to precisely edit the DNA of any living thing and has already revolutionised many areas of research and biotechnology. By studying the systems bacteria use to combat viruses, we are now realising that humans inherited many of our anti-viral immune systems from our bacterial ancestors. In this talk, Professor White, talk will explore the links between all living things on the tree of life, with a particular focus on our shared immune systems.
Professor Malcolm White was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of St Andrews in 2000, following periods of postdoctoral research in Scotland and California. He is interested in molecular evolution, and studies bacterial immune systems, discovering new enzymes and pathways that provide antiviral immunity by detecting and destroying viral invaders. Malcolm is funded by the European Research Council and is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.