Past Public Lectures
The UW Department of Genome Sciences played an important role in determining the sequence of the 3 billion letters of DNA specifying all of our hereditary information and is now one of the leading centers where the human genome is being interpreted and where new technologies for this analysis are being developed.
To share these advances with the public the Department of Genome Sciences hosts a 'Wednesday Evenings at the Genome' public lecture series each summer. These exciting discussions assume no background knowledge in genetics or other biological subjects and provide opportunities to chat with our presenters.
2024
July 10: Bob Waterston
“The Human Genome Project: from the frying pan into the fire”
seminar recording
July 17: Alison Feder
“Mapping intra-lung bacterial migration reveals pathways to persistence”
seminar recording
July 24: Suman Jayadev
“How immune cells can drive Alzheimer’s disease”
seminar recording
July 31: Phil Abitua
“The evolutionary story of embryos”
seminar recording
2023
July 12: Gail Jarvik
"Genomic medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center"
seminar recording
July 19: Rosana Risques
"Mutations, aging, and cancer: understanding the evolution inside of our bodies"
seminar recording
July 26: Jay Shendure
"Reconstructing prenatal development, from a single cell zygote to a free-living mammal"
seminar recording
August 2: Sam Wasser
"Genetic approaches to combat transnational environmental crimes"
seminar recording
2022
The DNA Café: Ice Cream Social
Presenters will use the café as an accessible metaphor to talk about Genomics.
Ice cream and refreshments will be provided.
July 13 - The DNA Menu
Place your Ice Cream Sundae order from the DNA Menu. Research panelists will discuss their research into the mysteries of DNA.
August 10 - Can I Take Your RNA Order?
How do we figure out what ice cream "gene" orders are most popular? How might mRNA vaccines prevent Vegetable Virus Invasions? Research panelists will discuss their research into RNA and gene expression.
August 17 - Building a Better Sundae
In DNA Café Ice Cream Sundaes represent proteins in the cell. How do we measure ice cream "proteins" when they melt so easily? Research panelists will discuss their research into protein and mass spectrometry.
2021
July 7
Dr. Lea Starita
"City Scale Pandemic Surveillance with the Seattle Flu Study"
seminar recording
July 14
Dr. Maitreya Dunham
"Mutant beer: watching yeast evolve in real time in the brewery"
seminar recording
July 21
Dr. Jesse Bloom
"Interpreting the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 "
seminar recording
July 28
Dr. Malia Fullerton
"Genomics and Society: A Few Big Questions"
seminar recording
2019
July 10
Alan Herr
“An n of 1: Navigating lung cancer as a patient and a scientist”
lecture video
July 17
Trisha Davis
“Ensuring an Equal Genetic Inheritance: A tale of yeast, lasers, and the effort to rebuild one of nature’s most complex molecular machines”
lecture video
July 24
Heather Mefford
“Understanding the genetics of epilepsy”
lecture video
July 31
Rob Bradley
“Why do humans have fewer genes than corn?”
2018
July 11
Dr. William Noble
"Using deep neural networks to study the human genome"
lecture video
July 18
Dr. Kelley Harris
"Who were the Neanderthals and what are they doing in my genome?"
lecture video
July 25
Dr. Celeste Berg
"Crime Scene Investigation: Seattle --- How DNA helps forensic scientists catch the bad guys"
lecture video
August 1
Dr. Evan Eichler
"Understanding the genetics of autism"
lecture video
2017
July 5
Brook Nunn
"What can the tiniest organisms teach us about the vast ocean?"
lecture video
July 12
Jay Shendure
"Using CRISPR to learn how a body builds itself"
lecture video
July 19
Matt Kaeberlein
"A biologist and his dogs: The quest to slow aging in man's best friend"
lecture video
July 26
Doug Fowler
"New approaches to understanding variation in human genomes"
lecture video
2016
July 6
Dr. Gail Jarvik
"Genomic Medicine: Present and Future"
lecture video
July 13
Dr. M.K. Raghuraman
"Beyond bread and beer: Investigating human disorders in yeast"
lecture video
July 20
Dr. Cole Trapnell
"Reprogramming our cells: Finding & exploiting biological wormholes"
July 27
Dr. Michael MacCoss
"Why do we care about measuring proteins? The search for the panacea of robust protein measurement"
lecture video
2015
July 8
Dr. Ray Monnat
"Cancer: What is it? Where does it come from? What can we do?"
lecture video
July 15
Dr. Cole Trapnell
“Reprogramming our cells: finding and exploiting biological wormholes”
July 22
Dr. Aimee Dudley
“Wine, coffee, and chocolate: The influence of human activity on microbes we need”
lecture video
July 29
Dr. Tony Blau
“A Cancer Patient’s War on Cancer”
lecture video
2014
July 9
Dr. Jesse Bloom
"Constraints on the Evolution of Influenza Virus"
July 16
Dr. Mary Kuhner
"Evolutionary Forensics: Where Did That Come From?"
lecture video
July 23
Dr. David Baker
"Design of Brand New Proteins for Current Challenges in Health, Energy & Technology"
lecture video
July 30
Dr. Sam Miller
"How Bacteria Cause Disease: Warfare and Detente Alter the Balance of Human Defense & Microbial Invaders"
lecture video
2013
Wednesday, July 10
Dr. George Martin
"How Nature, Nurture and Chance Shapes How We Age"
lecture video
Wednesday, July 17
Dr. David Raible
"Not Just a Fish Tale: Zebrafish Models to Cure Hearing Loss"
lecture video
Wednesday, July 24
Dr. Peter Byers
"Genetics and the Law: Contretemps Over Brittle Bones"
lecture video
Wednesday, July 31
Dr. Maynard Olson
"Genomic Medicine: What Path Forward?"
lecture video
2012
Wednesday, July 11
Dr. Mary-Claire King
"Anna Karenina and the Genetics of Schizophrenia"
Wednesday, July 18
Dr. Holly Tabor
"Making Your Genome Work for You"
lecture video
Wednesday, July 25
Dr. David Hawkins
"Chromatin Cartography: How our epigenomes Inform us about our genome"
lecture video
Wednesday, August 1
Dr. Hannele Ruohola-Baker
"From Flies to Mice to Men: how caramel color can keep our muscles strong"
lecture video
2011
July 6
Recent adventures in human evolution
Dr. Joshua Akey
July 13
Confessions of the genome: solving rare disease mysteries
Dr. Michael Bamshad
July 20
Meet your tenants: A genomic tour of your inner microbial zoo
Dr. Elhanan Borenstein
July 27
Paleovirology: ghosts and gifts from ancient infections
Dr. Harmit Malik
2010
"How your diet affects your DNA"
July 7
Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos
seminar video
"Making an impact on malaria: What can a geneticist do?"
July 14
Dr. Carol Sibley
seminar video
"Watching evolution in action"
July 21
Dr. Maitreya Dunham
seminar video
"Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam: who do your genes come from?"
July 28
Dr. Joe Felsenstein
seminar video part 1 | seminar video part 2
2009
"The Changing Human Genome: Disease and Evolution"
July 8
Dr. Evan Eichler
"Using Genetics to Understand Body Weight Regulation"
July 15
Dr. Richard Palmiter
"Genetics and Ethics"
July 22
Dr. Malia Fullerton
"Aging and Cancer: Clues from the Wine Bottle"
July 29
Dr. Dan Gottschling
2008
July 9
Dr. Bruce Weir
"DNA, Genetics, and Forensics"
July 16
Dr. Michael MacCoss
"Measuring Proteins Levels in Health and Disease"
July 23
Dr. Celeste Berg
"Genes and Development"
July 30
Dr. Jay Shendure
"Sequencing genomes and personal genomics"
2007
The Human Genome Project
The Genetics of Breast Cancer
The Genetics of Drug Responses
Genes and Heart Disease
Analyzing Parkinson's Dissease