Tuesday night we held our last Cafe Scientifique Syracuse of this academic year. We’ll now take three months off and resume in September.
Our speaker for this year’s finale was Chris Boddy, from S.U.’s chemistry department - here’s the poster
Chris’s talk, titled, as you can see, Natural Products: Evolution’s Solution to Problems of Medicinal Chemistry, was a very nice survey of the two different ways in which drug development occurs - through construction from scratch in laboratories, and by evolutionary selection within biological organisms. Chris gave a very nice summary of the science, and was even able to slip in a coherent description of the complex processes through which drugs are brought to market.
We had a lively discussion session, which went on past our usual stopping time, with wonderful questions about the different pathways through which various organisms create drugs, how drug companies decide what diseases and corresponding drugs to focus on, and what the incentives for these choices are.
Once again, as in almost any talk I attend that has a biological component, I was struck by the truth of Theodosius Dobzhansky’s statement that “nothing in Biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”.
Before we start again in September we’re going to review how we run our meetings, to see if we can make improvements. In particular, we are considering seeking some more financial support to make the events attractive to even more people - we think that for something like $5000 per year, we could run it for free, and pay for parking for people who right now have a bit of trouble finding a spot for free.
From my perspective, this has been a very successful first year for Cafe Scientifique Syracuse. Our speakers have uniformly done a terrific job, our audiences have been engaged, informed and fun, and in general the collaboration between our organizing committee and Ambrosia - the very nice restaurant and club that we use for the meetings - has been smooth and productive for both parties. As a nice confirmation of these impressions, we have just learned that on May 15th we are being awarded the Science/Technology Community Outreach Award from the Technology Alliance of Central New York.
Most importantly, the last year has seen Cafe Scientifique taking off in many new locations in the U.S.. I have been called up and have provided what advice and information I can to at least five other groups planning new ventures, including the one in Chicago that Sean posted about recently.
May 4th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Mark: What a great idea (the Sc. Cafe’) for getting together folks w/different backgrounds! As someone who has crossed over from physics to the biosciences and worked in pharma, it’s perhaps worth pointing out to physics students that there are many fundamental physical questions relevant to drug discovery that they can explore. And such students would have a unique perspective on these problems that might lead to some new solutions.
The T.D. evolution comment is dead-on; I was told by a protein expression guru when I was having problems w/ e.coli: “If you want to grow bugs, you have to think like a bug”. This has helped newcomers understand the practical implications of evolution.
May 4th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
I must echo T. Dobzhansky’s sentiment: evolution is the single most important concept to boost our collective understanding of the life sciences. It baffles me how creationists could possibly think otherwise. I cannot image how a child can truly grasp the life sciences without the fundamental vehicle of evolution. On a more personal note, my comprehension of biology was greatly enhanced by intertwining this field of study with evolutionary theory. I must tip my hat to Darwin and his long line of successors!
May 5th, 2006 at 11:02 am
I’m glad Café Scientifique is running well up in Syracuse. I noticed on Café Scientifique’s general website that a New York City outpost is expected. Really looking forward to that. An occasional talk and public discussion sounds like a great complement to the reading I do in the effort to keep in touch with science. It’s not my field, but it interests me, and I think understanding it is important. So, bring it on in NYC!
May 25th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Does anyone know the info on the NY cafe scientifique, I’d love to go but we don’t have any information yet.
Please let me know Dcohn1 AT gmail DOT com
Best