The Frontiers in Biomedical Sciences Seminar Series is hosting a visit and lecture on Thursday, October 25, by Dr. Blanche Capel, an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Duke University. Dr. Capel’s lecture “The Battle of the Sexes: Patterning the Gonad,” will be presented at 4 p.m. in the Cherokee Park Room at the Lory Student Center.
Dr. Capel is a leading expert on the Sex-determining Region Y (SRY) gene that is located on the Y chromosome. SRY acts as a genetic switch and induces a wide variety of downstream events in the undifferentiated gonad to turn its development path from the ovarian pathway to the testis. Dr. Capel’s lab studies the cellular and molecular events induced by SRY expression to give them information about genetic switch genes, testis formation, and organ development in general. They have identified several pathways downstream of SRY, including cell migration, cell differentiation, proliferation, and many of the associated genes. Her current research focuses on how proliferation and cell migration are involved in testis development; what genes control these pathways; how cell fate decisions are made in the early gonad; the role of germ cells in the specification of ovary or testis development.
The Frontiers in Biomedical Sciences Seminar Series was initiated by the Department of Biomedical Sciences four years ago to sponsor outstanding speakers on leading-edge topics in the biomedical sciences that would appeal to large and diverse audiences. The Series is currently jointly sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Sciences, the Program in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience, and the Cell and Molecular Biology Program at Colorado State University. For additional information on the Frontiers lecture, visit the Department’s Web site at http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/bms/fibs.htm.
