Science Cafe Raleigh - Darwin lives on: how gene-environment interactions affect modern society

This month's Science Cafe (description below) will be held on March 24th at Tir Na Nog. Our speaker is Dr. David Reif from the US Environmental Protection Agency. That evening we will be talking about the interplay between our genetic makeup and our environment & lifestyles. We will also discuss human genetics with a focus on evolutionary theory. Here is a link (http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1879213,00.html#) to an interesting article by a popular author, Carl Zimmer that you might find fun to read. The article gives some background on Darwin and the ideas behind his evolutionary theory as well as some new thoughts that scientists are having about genes and evolution. If you are particularly interested in the writings of Charles Darwin, here is a link to his writings online (http://darwin-online.org.uk/). I hope that many of you can come on the 24th - it should be a very interesting cafe that will give us a lot to talk about.

Darwin lives on: how gene-environment interactions affect modern society
Tuesday March 24, 2009
6:30-8:30 p.m. with discussion beginning at 7:00 followed by Q&A
Tir Na Nog 218 South Blount Street, Raleigh, 833-7795

In the 150 years since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, there has been great debate (political, spiritual, and scientific) over the implications of natural selection for human beings: What does our shared evolutionary history have to do with common, complex diseases? How might genetics shape differential susceptibility to the multitude of chemicals--both manufactured and natural--present in the environment? How do modern lifestyles impact the evolutionary process? Join us as we discuss these and other questions concerning the interplay between our genes and the environment.

About the Speaker:

Dr. David Reif earned his B.S. (Biology) from the College of William & Mary and both his M.S. (Statistics) and Ph.D. (Human Genetics) from Vanderbilt University. He is currently a Statistician in the National Center for Computational Toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Reif's research focuses on novel statistical and bioinformatical strategies for human health and environmental toxicology.

RSVP to katey.ahmann@ncmail.net . For more information, contact Katey Ahmann at 919-733-7450, ext. 531.

We look forward to seeing you on the 24th,