Growing Cells and the Search for Answers

Our brains are the most complex things in the universe, but what are they made of? Different types of cells all exist in our brains, each with a unique role. In neurological diseases like ALS, cells don’t perform their roles properly, leading to death. This talk will explore the study of ALS - how we can make brain cells from patient skin biopsies and print these cells into 3D structures, re-creating a brain-like environment for us to study and hopefully leading to therapies.

Scientists have known the main culprit behind Alzheimer’s disease for over 25 years – yet almost all new treatments fall short. The amyloid-beta protein forms toxic molecules which slowly kill brain cells, but little is understood of this slow and complicated process. Dr Anna Olerinyova will explore the molecular mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease and show how we use lasers and fluorescence to shed light on this puzzling problem, and how we can apply this approach to other forms of dementia.

Search engines often provide more information than it is possible to look at so users have to decide when to stop reading their results. This talk will discuss the problem and explain why it is important in some domains, including medicine and law. It will then explore some of the methods that can be used to decide when to stop looking at search results, including ones that aim to ensure that interesting documents won’t be missed.