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Cracking the Code, narrated by Mark Ruffalo, is an inspiring story of vision, perseverance, and the power of science to change the world. Phil Sharp’s journey from a Kentucky farm boy to Nobel laureate embodies the American Dream and the triumph of entrepreneurial spirit. His 1977 groundbreaking discovery of RNA splicing rewrote the rules of molecular biology and ignited a life-saving scientific revolution, laying the foundation for an industry that has become a cornerstone of global innovation and economic growth – and transformed the health of billions of patients worldwide.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Meiosis is characterized by the first, or reductional, division. We use Drosophila melanogaster females as a model to understand the mechanisms that promote accurate chromosome segregation on the acentrosomal spindle of oocytes. Furthermore, we are interested in understanding the features of the oocyte spindle that make it susceptible to chromosome segregation errors. An important part of this process is how the kinetochores on the chromosomes interact with the microtubules of the spindle. The kinetochore interacts with the microtubules in two ways. First, lateral attachments, where the kinetochores move along the sides of microtubules. Second, end-on attachments, where the kinetochores make a stable attachment to the ends of microtubules, maintain connections to a pole and segregate the homologs. The lateral interactions occur between the kinetochores and central spindle, which is composed of overlapping antiparallel microtubules and may be particularly important for acentrosomal oocytes. We hypothesize that the transition between lateral and end-on attachments is regulated to avoid errors in chromosome segregation.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.

Refreshments served at 3:45 PM prior to talk at 4:00 PM for all attendees.