Cycle Description:
A little less than 70 years ago we learned about how the main molecule of life, DNA, works when James Watson and Francis Crick published their famous article in Nature. Even today, the processes of replication, transcription and translation that occur with DNA and RNA are in every school biology textbook. The study and understanding of processes at the level of genes and chemical reactions currently helps biologists not only to understand the processes of functioning of various organisms and their evolution, but also to obtain new antibiotics and treat oncological diseases. What methods do biologists use today? How can understanding the evolution of viruses help us fight current and future pandemics? How will the study of mutations affect the development of anticancer therapies and vaccines? And will molecular biology change our future?

In the course of lectures, Skoltech professors and researchers will analyze various aspects of molecular biology from basic concepts to the main discoveries of recent years. The course starts on January 29 with an introductory lecture on bioinformatics by Mikhail Gelfand, Doctor of Biology, Professor, Skoltech Vice President for Biomedical Research. He will analyze the basic basic concepts of molecular biology and talk about how bioinformatics, molecular biology and evolution are mixed together in a scientific cocktail.
Course program:
February 16 – Dmitry Ivankov “Why do proteins work?”;
March 16 – Ilya Osterman “New antibiotics: why, when and how?”;
April 6 – Vera Rybko “Oncological diseases and immunity”;
May 18 – Georgy Bazykin “The evolution of molecules: from viruses to the human body.”