© Pint of Science, 2024. All rights reserved.
On a fundamental level the human body is an extremely complex machine. Various interweaving systems control us acting like housekeepers, time keepers and determining our risk of different diseases. At this event, you'll hear how different systems interact - genes and Alzheimer's risk, body clocks and brain function - and how cutting edge research is giving us new insights.
Genes, AD and Me
Dr Keeley Brookes
(Lecturer of Molecular Biosciences, Nottingham Trent University)
Our genes play a large role in determining whether we will develop Alzheimer’s or not; and over the past 20 years reseachers have identified a number of genes linked to the disease. This talk will focus on how genetics reseach has developed over time and how reseachers are using new ways to analyse genetic risk called “polygenic risk scores”. We will discuss how this method of investigating genetics is crucial in identifying individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and is advancing our understanding about the disease and how to prevent it occurring.
Keeping your body clock ticking
Mitchell Masterson
(PhD student, University of Nottingham)
Circadian rhythms are your body’s natural daily cycles, keeping things ticking over in every cell of your body. Most of us are only really aware of them when we get jet-lagged but they do have upsides too! Not only do they control when you feel the need to sleep but also your body temperature, when you’re best at wound healing, growth and what times you’re best at learning and remembering, to name a few. This talk will cover how circadian rhythms are controlled and how they control you, with insights into how we study them in a lab.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.