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Bring the family to enjoy a day of scientific exploration on April 11
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The Salk Institute will open its doors to the community Saturday, April 11, for the third annual Explore Salk, a once-a-year event featuring staff-guided lab tours, self-guided architectural tours, science booths and talks by Salk researchers. Family-friendly activities include a Kids' Discovery Zone, a mobile science lab with hands-on experiments and a virtual lab tour with a Q&A session for preteens interested in pursuing a career in science.
New to this year's Explore Salk are intimate, hands-on lab tours, which offer a more in-depth experience than the general lab tours. The general lab tours give visitors a free behind-the-scenes look at two Salk laboratories.
Visitors can also enjoy two science talks during the day. Saket Navlakha, Salk assistant professor, will give a science talk entitled "How Biology Solves Technology Problems." Special guest Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and chief academic officer at Scripps Health, will discuss about his most recent book, "The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands."
Admission to Explore Salk is free, but online preregistration is required for the lab tours. For complete details, please visit www.salk.edu/exploresalk.
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Salk Science News
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From left: Tushar Menon, Inder Verma and Amy Firth
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Immune system-in-a-dish offers hope for "bubble boy" disease
Inder Verma and his team developed a new technique that holds promise for treating severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) ----also known as "bubble boy" or "bubble baby" disease. Patients are born with an impaired immune system that can't fight off germs and they often don't live past age one.
Verma's team found a way to, for the first time, turn cells from SCID patients to a stem cell-like state, fix the genetic mutation and prompt the corrected stem cells to successfully generate missing immune cells in a dish. The new, preliminary technology, detailed in Cell Stem Cell, suggests the possibility of implanting these tweaked cells back into a patient so they can an immune system.
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From left: John Martlett, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Hsin-Kai Liao, Yuta Takahashi, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Tomoaki Hishida and Mo Li
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Cellular scissors chop up HIV virus
The lab of Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte has moved one step closer to an HIV treatment by customizing a powerful defense system used by many bacteria (called CRISPR) to recognize and disable the HIV virus. The team used the scissor-like machinery to chop up loose copies of the HIV virus as well as hidden strands within cells' DNA, as detailed in Nature Communications. The technique wiped the virus completely from 72 percent of cells in the study.
Read press release here �
Select media coverage: U-T San Diego, Bioscience Technology, Infection Control Today
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High School Science Day draws nearly 300 scholars
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High school students and teachers from around the region participated in the annual event on Saturday, February 28, touring the Institute and working on real experiments alongside scientists. |
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Salk helps promote new documentary on cancer
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A panel discussion featuring Salk professor Geoffrey Wahl and patient advocate Bianca Kennedy was part of a special event last month at Petco Park to promote the documentary Ken Burns Presents CANCER: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES, before it airs on PBS March 30. The American Association for Cancer Research partnered with Stand Up To Cancer, KPBS and the San Diego Padres to host the discussion and present a 30-minute preview of the film. |
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Salk Nobel laureate receives France's highest honor
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Salk professor and Nobel laureate Roger Guillemin was presented with France's highest accolade----the rank of Commander in the Legion of Honor----during a ceremony March 7 at the Institute as dozens of family, friends and colleagues looked on.
In bestowing the medal, neuroscientist Jean-Pierre Changeux of the College de France and Pasteur Institute in Paris praised the French-born Guillemin, 91, for fostering "scientific collaboration and friendship between the United States and France." Proclaiming his gratitude in French, Guillemin then thanked his family and Salk colleagues, many of whom he had worked with for over 45 years. To a standing ovation, he concluded, "Let's close this unique event in the French tradition with a glass of champagne."
Read more in the Times of San Diego �
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Upcoming Women & Science
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Amy Rommel
Research Associate
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For information and to RSVP:
Elizabeth (Betsy) Reis
Director of Donor Relations
Phone: (858) 453-4100 x1426
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When Salk Women & Science presents its inaugural Special Awards Initiative grants on March 24 to two female scientists conducting high-risk research projects, it will have yet another milestone to celebrate. The $100,000 goal established in October to raise funds for the program has been exceeded. On the strength of this success, fundraising will continue through June.
The event on Tuesday afternoon will be hosted by Salk Associate Professor Clodagh O'Shea. Amy Rommel, a postdoctoral research associate in Inder Verma's laboratory, will discuss a novel approach to cancer cells.
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Salk Science Sunday
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Salk scientists Greg Lemke, Tom Albright and Amy Rommel were the featured guests on KUSI's "San Diego People" news program March 1. In a roundtable conversation with KUSI anchor Sandra Maas, the researchers spoke of the importance of vaccinations, the fallibility of eyewitness testimony and what it's like to begin a career in science, specifically at the Salk.
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Salk architectural image for download
Decorate your desktop, tablet or smartphone with some of the most intriguing images from the Salk Institute!
Salk Institute courtyard
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For instructions and downloads Click here �
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