Fred Gage

Professor Fred Gage, The Salk Institute, US

DNA damage and repair in the brain, throughout life

16:00 - 17:00, Thursday 15th April - The closing plenary lecture 

Biography

Fred Gage is the President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Adler Professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute, and has concentrated on the adult central nervous system and the unexpected plasticity and adaptability that remains throughout the life of all mammals.

Abstract

In this lecture, I will explore where in the genome DNA damage and repair occur as well as how extensively these events are distributed throughout the genome. Surprisingly, these damaging events are not randomly distributed, but rather are restricted to specific sites in the genome. There are different mechanisms for DNA damage to occur and some of the mechanisms are a result of the vulnerability of the regions of the genome where they occur. While DNA damage is robust, on a daily basis the genome has evolved a remarkable repair system that relentlessly surveys the genome for damaged events. This repair machinery is fueled by energy that is subject to challenges from internal genetic mutations as well as external environmental perturbations. I will discuss how the DNA repair machinery makes non-random choices as to which DNA damaged events to repair. These findings are related to cell fate and cell survival.

Additional websites

See Fred Gage's lab website here