Part 1: Genomes and Sequences | Part 2: Molecular Switches and Signaling In the last year, we've read in newspapers and seen on TV numerous reports of the sequencing of the genomes of humans and other species. But what, exactly, is a genome? Rockefeller University Professor Thomas P. Sakmar spoke about genomes and how those of bacteria, flies, frogs and humans compare: Why are humans so much more complex than flies, which have only half as many genes as we do? What is evolution, and what does it mean at the molecular level? As organisms evolve to become more complex, they devote more and more DNA to encoding the protein building blocks of signal transduction networks--biochemical pathways that link detection of an external event to a cellular response. In the human genome, the largest category of genes build up and regulate signal transduction networks. The Alfred E. Mirsky Christmas Lectures on Science were established in 1959 by Dr. Mirsky, a biochemist and Rockefeller University librarian. Dr. Mirsky modeled these lectures on a popular series of science lectures for children, pioneered in London in 1827 by Michael Faraday--known as the greatest experimenter in the history of science. Dr. Sakmar is professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at The Rockefeller University where he is also acting president. He was raised on the east side of Detroit, Michigan, where he attended neighborhood public and parochial schools. He received his A.B. degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and his M.D. d . .om the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. During school breaks he worked initially as a telephone cable splicer and an arc welder until landing research positions at the University of Chicago and the Food and Drug Administration in Bethesda, Maryland. While attending a special biophysics school in France in 1979, he was inspired by Martin Rodbell, who had just coined the term "signal transduction" and who went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1994. Dr. Sakmar completed a medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of H. Gobind Khorana at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his postdoctoral research training, Dr. Sakmar was among the first scientists to study the function of a newly discovered class of cell-surface receptors using techniques of molecular biology. Using rhodopsin, the receptor for dim light in the retina, as a model system, Dr. Sakmar has continued to study the dynamics of receptor activation-the conformational changes that rapidly occur when rhodopsin absorbs a photon of light or a receptor binds to a hormone. Dr. Sakmar also has made major contributions to understanding the chemical basis for color vision. Dr. Sakmar also is an associate investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in their Neuroscience Program and a senior scholar of the Ellison Medical Foundation.   System Requirements Version 4.1.2 of the QuickTime plug-in (or higher) is required to view this presentation. If you do not have the plug-in installed, you may install the QuickTime plug-in now. Macintosh: Power Macintosh 333mhz or faster, Mac OS 8.5 or later, QuickTime 4.1.2 Full install, 10 Mb of free application Ram memory and 15 Mb of hard disk space. Windows: Pentium II 266 mhz or faster, Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000, QuickTime 4.1.2 Full install, 256 Color SVGA Monitor (16 or 24 bit color), 64 Mb or Ram memory and 15 Mb of hard disk space. Credits Part 1A: Slide 3: "Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine" Slide 7: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 9: "Reprinted with permission from Science 291:1304-1351 (2001) © 2001 American Association for the Advancement of Science" Slide 14: "Compliments of Dr. Agata Smogorzewska (de Lange Laboratory, The Rockefeller University)" Slide 20: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 21: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 23: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 413:523-527 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Part 2A: Slide 2: "Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine" Slide 3: "Copyright Cary Wolinsky and Trillium Studios" Slide 4: "Reprinted with permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 5: "Reprinted with permission from Science 294:1299-1304 (2001) © 2001 American Association for the Advancement of Science" Slide 6: "Adapted from Weng, Bhalla & Iyengar, Science 284:92 (1999)" Slide 8: "Adapted from Arshavsky & Pugh, Neuron 20 (1):11-14 (1998)" Slides 9-10: Reprinted with permission from Harper Collins Publishers" Slides 11-12: "Adapted from Hargrave, Hamm & Hofmann, Bioessays 15(1):43-50 (1993)" Slide 14: "Adapted from Arshavsky & Pugh; Neuron 20 (1):11-14 (1998)" Slide 15: "© Phototake" Slide 16: "© Phototake" Slide 17: "© Phototake" Slide 21: "From Gegenfurter & Sharpe, Color Vision, 1999" PART 1B: Slide 2: "© AFP/CORBIS" Slide 3: "Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine" Slide 9: "Compliments of Prof. David Gasby (The Rockefeller University)" Slide 12: "Created by Karin Åberg (Iconic Arena)" Slide 13: "Compliments of Prof. Mike O'Donnell (The Rockefeller University)" Slides 14-15: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 18: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slides 20-21: "Reprinted by permission from Nature 409:860-921 (2001) © 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd." Slide 23: "© Phototake" Slide 24: "© AFP/CORBIS" Slide 26: "Created by Karin Åberg (Iconic Arena)" Part 2B: Slide 2: "By Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London" Slide 3: "© AFP/CORBIS" Slide 5: "Reprinted with permission from Science 294:1299-1304 (2001) © 2001 American Association for the Advancement of Science" Slide 6: "Adapted from Weng, Bhalla & Iyengar, Science 284:92-96 (1999)" Slide 8: "Adapted from Arshavsky & Pugh, Neuron 20 (1):11-14 (1998)" Slide 10: "From Rosenzweig & Leiman, Physiological Psychology, 1982" Slide 11: "Reprinted by permission from Nature Genetics 25:306-310 (2000) © MacMillan Magazines Ltd." Slides 12-13: "Created by André Hoelz (Sakmar Lab, The Rockefeller University)" Slide 18: "From Palmer, Vision Science, 1999" Slides 22-23: "From Palmer, Vision Science, 1999"