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SUMMARY:The Spark of Life: the story of ion channels    - Prof. Frances As
 hcroft (University of Oxford)
DTSTART:20141020T180000Z
DTEND:20141020T193000Z
UID:TALK55173@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sophie Mathias
DESCRIPTION:*Have dinner with Prof. Ashcroft!* Sign up here (first 5 peopl
 e to sign up will be admitted): http://goo.gl/forms/R5IThJ4ejX\n\n*Abstrac
 t*\nWhat do a herd of ‘fainting’ goats\, a shivering pig\, a child wit
 h cystic fibrosis\, a person who feels no pain\, a migraine sufferer and s
 omeone with a rare inherited form of diabetes have in common? The answer i
 s that all of them have genetic errors in a particular kind of protein\, k
 nown as an ion channel\, that regulates the electrical activity of the bod
 y. Humans are electrical machines and your ability to read this page and t
 o understand its message\, to laugh and cry\, to see and hear\, and to mov
 e your limbs\, is due to the electrical events taking place in the nerve c
 ells in your brain and the muscle cells in your limbs. And that electrical
  activity is initiated and regulated by your ion channels. These little-kn
 own proteins are essential for every aspect of our lives\, from consciousn
 ess to fighting infection\, from sexual attraction to the beating of our h
 earts. They are also used as weapons of warfare by the immune system and b
 y bacteria. It is therefore not surprising that a multitude of medicinal d
 rugs work by regulating the activity of ion channels\, and that impaired i
 on channel function is responsible for many human and animal diseases. Thi
 s lecture charts the development of our understanding of animal electricit
 y\, and explains how electrical impulses are generated by ion channels. It
  discusses the ways that ion channels regulate our lives and the dramatic 
 consequences when things go wrong. It also shows how an understanding of t
 he ion channels involved can lead to a new therapy for patients born with 
 a rare form of diabetes. In brief\, its aim is to ‘sing the body electri
 c’.\n\n\n*Speaker bio*\nProfessor Frances Ashcroft FRS was educated at C
 ambridge University. She is currently Professor of Physiology at the Unive
 rsity of Oxford\, a Fellow of Trinity College\, Oxford\, and Director of O
 XION \, a training and research programme on the integrative physiology of
  ion channels. Her research aims to elucidate how a rise in the blood gluc
 ose concentration stimulates the release of insulin from the pancreatic be
 ta-cells. She has shown that an ion channel known as the ATP -sensitive po
 tassium (KATP) channel plays a vitally important role in regulating insuli
 n secretion and\, more recently\, her work with Andrew Hattersley has reve
 aled that mutations in KATP channel genes can cause neonatal diabetes\, a 
 rare genetic form of diabetes that develops soon after birth. Understandin
 g how the KATP channel functions has enabled most patients with neonatal d
 iabetes to substitute oral drug therapy for insulin injections.\n\nFree fo
 r members\, £2 for non-members\, £10 for lifetime membership until 22nd 
 October
LOCATION:Large Lecture Theatre\, Department of Plant Sciences\, Downing Si
 te
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