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Other London events

Brain Disorders and Gene Therapy

Past event - 2016
23 May Doors 7pm
Event 7:30 - 10pm
The Prince Albert, 163 Royal College Street,
London NW1 0SG
Sold Out!
Brain disorders can be deeply debilitating, severely affecting quality of life. Tonight we hear from 3 scientists working at the forefront of brain research, who will provide us with an insight into how these complex conditions develop, how novel technologies are being adopted to provide easier and earlier diagnoses, and how exciting cutting-edge technology is being developed that may lead to new treatments.

During the event there will be games and special Pint of Science goodies to be won!

This event will be held on the first floor.

Lasers, Blood and Babies' Brains

Professor Clare Elwell (Professor of Medical Physics)
We use light all the time to assess our wellbeing – whether we look pale and peaky or bright and full of life. Innovations in physics and engineering now enable us to use light delve far below the skin surface and understand the intricate workings of the human brain. This talk will demonstrate how novel optical techniques are transforming the possibilities for when, where and how we can image human brain including our work to deliver early markers of autism and to understand the effects of malnutrition on young infants in rural Africa.

The Genetics of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease

Professor John Hardy (Professor of Neuroscience)
The cause and development of neurological diseases are often complex and multi-factorial, and until relatively recently have remained rather elusive. This talk will share with you some of the exciting developments we have made in the understanding of the genetic basis of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and how this knowledge is helping to make the treatment of these conditions a future possibility.

Can we cure brain diseases by modifying genes?

Dr Gabriele Lignani (Marie Curie Fellow)
Gene therapy is a technique for treating disease by altering patients’ genetic material. The movement to treat neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and epilepsy with gene therapy is rapidly gaining momentum. But editing genes is a complex and challenging endeavour, and technical difficulties have severely limited the edits we can perform. This could all be about to change with a new technology called CRISPR, which uses bacterial machines to edit genes in a cheap and easy fashion. How might CRISPR give new hope for the treatment of neurological disease?
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