Futures in Biotech 57: Mechanisms Of Non-Mendelian Inheritance In Evolution

Hosts: Marc Pelletier and George W. Farr, Ph.D., Vice President of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Aeromics and Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University

Guests: Susan Lindquist, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at MIT and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Simon Alberti, Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, and Randal Halfmann, a grad student in Dr. Lindquist's lab at MIT

Drs. Susan Lindquist (MIT), Simon Alberti (Max-Planck), and Randal Halfmann (MIT) talk about how prion proteins (yes, the like the ones that cause mad cow) can act in non-mendelian inheritance: evolution without DNA. This is a paradigm shift in our understanding of evolution. These prion proteins can enable an organism's rapid adaptation to new environments, and thus contribute to evolution at the protein level. It is not just for DNA anymore!

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