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From the moment we are a newly fertilized egg, to nine months later when we are a new born, our cells undertake an amazing journey. They are constantly making decisions, developing, migrating, changing and evolving. In this fascinating evening scientists from The Francis Crick Institute will explain how their research is shedding light on the early stages of life. How is sex determined? How do cells organise themselves into tissues? We’ll be discussing some state of the art methods that are providing answers to these questions. Expect quizzes, props and plenty of opportunity for questions.
How to make a baby
Bryony Jane Leeke
(PhD Student)
Charlotte Louise Douglas
(PhD Student)
Every single one of us starts our life as a single cell – the fertilised egg. This first cell then divides, copying itself again and again, to make enough cells to build the baby. But how do these cells know which part of the body to become? Between them they must build all the different organs and body parts, all made up of different types of cells. And how do the cells know whether they are in a female body, or a male one? The answers lie in our chromosomes.
Seeing is believing
Dr John Robert Davis
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
Since the advent of cinema, biologists have wanted to film animals growing and taking shape in order to better understand how this happens. Initially films were off growing limbs but as biologists sought to learn more they developed more sophisticated ways to image life. Now we are able to film even single molecules interacting in living organisms, and understand how we develop from a ball of cells into people.
10 big ideas of science
Dr Barry Thompson
(Group Leader)
Dr Thompson is interested in how cells work together to build tissues. He works to understand how genes determine tissue size and shape.
On this evening he will speak about 10 big ideas of science that inspired him to become a scientist. The ideas will range from physics to biology and will focus on how patterns emerge in nature from the microscopic scale to the galactic scale.
On this evening he will speak about 10 big ideas of science that inspired him to become a scientist. The ideas will range from physics to biology and will focus on how patterns emerge in nature from the microscopic scale to the galactic scale.
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