Lucy Shapiro

Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Stanford University

March 31, 2009 — 4:10 PM
International House Auditorium — 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley

Add to Google Calendar 03/31/2009 4:10 PM 03/31/2009 6:00 PM America/Los_Angeles Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health

About the Lecture Stanford Professor Lucy Shapiro is renowned for her contributions to the fields of developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. She discusses how antibiotics are becoming ineffective because bacteria have many ways of acquiring drug resistance. Development of … Continued

International House Auditorium - 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley Berkeley Graduate Lectures [email protected] false MM/DD/YYYY

About the Lecture

Stanford Professor Lucy Shapiro is renowned for her contributions to the fields of developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. She discusses how antibiotics are becoming ineffective because bacteria have many ways of acquiring drug resistance. Development of new antibiotics cannot keep pace in this biological arms race. Confounding this problem, there is an increase in prevalent infectious diseases around the world due to overpopulation, globalization, and urbanization. We are rapidly reaching a critical stage in this global threat that has both economic and political implications.

About Lucy Shapiro

Lucy Shapiro is renowned for her contributions to the fields of developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. Her research focuses on the cell cycle of a developing microorganism, particularly on the process by which the cells divide into dissimilar, rather than identical, “daughter” cells. This process remains, in Shapiro’s words, “one of the most fundamental questions of developmental biology.” Shapiro’s pioneering work has revealed the genetic circuitry controlling a bacterial cell with 3,767 genes, providing the basic principles of genetic programming that helps cells move seamlessly through the cell cycle. Shapiro also focuses on advancing the field of antibiotics, which she argues has reached a critical moment in history. Based on her in-depth analysis of a simple bacterial cell, Shapiro identified new antibiotic targets and co-founded a biotech company that designs antimicrobial drugs.


Watch and Listen

Related Lectures