with USC Professor Hal Slavkin
Beginning Tuesday October 6, 12:30 - 2pm
If you’ve ever wondered what all this genome business is about, you won’t want to miss a single session of this upcoming free class brought to Crowell Library by USC’s Emeriti Center College: A Primer in Human Genomics for the Curious Non-Scientist. In six sessions, participants will explore evolution, healthcare and biotechnology, with a focus on the new personalized, precision healthcare options. Advances in human, animal, plant and microbial genomics is rapidly enhancing the understanding of genes, allowing innovations in designing new organisms for specific applications such as removal of hydrocarbons from sea water, and precise approaches to diagnosis and drug treatments. The mantra “faster, cheaper and better” is rapidly advancing genomics, especially with drug designs for specific individualized cancers.
Back in 2000 when the Human Genome Project completed its first draft, the effort took more than a decade at a cost of millions of dollars -- to just partially complete one person’s genome. By the end of 2013, the human genome was completed and the cost of sequencing was reduced to $1,000 per person’s genome within a 24 hour time period. How did that happen and what does this mean for the future?
These classes will be presented by Professor Hal Slavkin, Dean Emeritus, University of Southern California School of Dentistry, who retired in June 2014 after 46 years on the full-time faculty. During his academic career he served as Chair of Biochemistry, Dean of the School of Dentistry, and served as the Director for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. He is a Member of the Institute of Medicine, a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International and American Associations of Dental Research, and the International Society of Developmental Biology. Professor Slavkin lives in Marina Del Rey.
Reserve your spot in class by calling the library at (626) 300-0777.
