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Other Cambridge events

Our Developing Body

Please note this event takes place on the second floor and has no step-free access.
Past event - 2017
15 May Doors open 6:30pm; Event 7:00pm-9:00pm
NOVI, 12 Regent Street,
Cambridge CB2 1DB
Sold Out!
Attend this event and you will find out: what mountaineers and a fetus have in common, understand how a Mother's diet can effect the eating patterns of her offspring and see some compelling images of a forming embryo while learning about the zebrafish's importance in the study of development.   

Please note that this event takes places on the first floor and is not accessible for those with impaired mobility.

A Day in the Life of a Fish Embryo

As embryos, we are very lucky humans who develop within the comfort of our mother’s womb, and take our own sweet time about it too! Zebrafish embryos, on the other hand, become swimming larvae in just 24 hours, and don’t mind us watching either. Modern imaging and advances in fluorescent proteins allow us to follow individual cells in time-lapse fashion as the zebrafish builds its body. Lets watch!

You are what your mother ate

Exposure to maternal under-nutrition or obesity in the womb means a child is more likely to develop obesity and diabetes. Animal studies, in the offspring of obese mothers, have shown disrupted development in parts of the brain that control feeding and that those developmental changes may result in the animals eating too much and becoming fat. I am investigating how maternal obesity alters feeding pathways in the brains of their offspring, and whether we can intervene to protect the offspring’s brain from the pre-disposing changes.

Everest In Utero – The Challenges of Life in Hypoxia

The phrase Everest In Utero recognises the work of Sir Joseph Barcroft, a Cambridge physiologist who compared the low-oxygen environment of the developing fetus with that of the high-altitude mountaineer. How can humans survive, or even thrive, in low-oxygen conditions? I will be drawing on a decade of work with the Xtreme Everest Research Group to answer the question. The group views the summit of Everest as a unique natural laboratory for studying the effects of extremely low-oxygen levels in the interest of helping patients who are critically ill.
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