How a Clash between our Genes & Modern Life is Making us Sick

15 October 2009

Professor Greg Gibson

This address introduces the ideas in Professor Greg Gibson's new book It Takes a Genome. The last two years have seen a revolution in genome scientists' ability to find the genes that influence whether a person is likely to suffer from any one of the major common chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, depression, or dementia. The shocking result, though, is that rather than a few dozen genes in each case, there are hundreds if not thousands in play, each of which contributes a small effect. These are analogous to dark matter in the Universe: they must be there, but we cannot easily see them. As well as explaining this conundrum and discussing the implications, Gibson will present the idea that chronic disease arises out of a very modern imbalance: there is a disconnect between our rapidly evolved human genome and the dramatic transitions in human lifestyles over the past few generations.

Broad Topics: Medicine and Life Science

Sub-topics: Medical & Health Science

Areas: ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment

Greg Gibson is Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Integrative Genomics at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Born and raised in Canberra, he received his BSc from the University of Sydney and Doctorate in developmental biology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has spent much of the last fifteen years using emerging techniques of genome science to study the evolution and genetics of fruit flies. Recently he turned his attention to human genetics and is now studying how both nature and nurture affect variation in the immune system, in people as diverse as Berber nomads in Morocco and suburban Brisbanites.

Presented by The John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU College Of Medicine, Biology & Environment and School of Archaeology & Anthropology, ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences.

Part of the Toyota-ANU Public Lecture Series 2009