
FREE
for Members
Lyceum Society October 2019
Monday, October 7, 2019
The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St Fl 40, New York
Established in 1993, The Lyceum Society is comprised of the Academy’s retired and semi-retired Members. These Members are from diverse backgrounds, have different areas of scientific interest and expertise, and have practiced many professions. Their disciplines include Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Information Sciences, Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, and many others.
The Society hosts convivial monthly meetings at the Academy. These meetings feature lectures and discussions with scientists from around the world, and also provide participating Members with the opportunity to give self-directed presentations and seminars based on their own specialties or new research interests. All Academy Members are welcome.
All Lyceum meetings (except December) are Brown Bag lunches.
For more information about the Lyceum Society, click here.
Registration
Monday
October 07, 2019
Brown Bag Lunch
Can the Epigenetic Cellular Environment Cause Cancer Metastasis?
Speaker
Recent investigations in humans and mice have indicated that the spreading of tumors to distant parts of the body may be attributed to abnormal epigenetic modification of gene expression (gain or loss of activity) without any actual change in the structure of the genes themselves or their molecular sequencing. Additionally it has been shown that the heritability of some cancers can be attributable to epigenetic changes. To contain or eliminate cancers, some patients are now being treated with drugs targeting epigenetic regulators.
Impact of the Protein Data Bank & Structure Based Drug Design on Anti-Cancer Drugs
Speaker
Within the past 30 years, a substantial revolution has occurred in drug development. In place of traditional trial and error methods, drugs are now designed to target specific proteins which are involved in a disease. The three-dimensional protein structures are stored in the Protein Data Bank (used worldwide) and small drug molecules are designed to bind to the protein surface, altering the protein's activity. Of the 210 new FDA approved drugs (2010–2016), 59 are anti-neoplastic and 31 are anti-infective, with my historical example of the 1996 AIDS therapy.