The Lasker Lecture Series

The Lasker Lectures explore fundamental scientific questions and elucidate topics of pressing interest in medical research and clinical practice. Through its lecture series, the Lasker Foundation hopes to advance a public dialogue about the ways in which scientific questions are pursued, to boost public understanding of the importance of biomedical research, and to generate excitement about the challenges and promise of biomedical science.

The inaugural Lasker Lecture, "Reading the Human Genome: Genes and Brains," was delivered by Sydney Brenner to an overflow audience at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on November 16, 2009. Dr. Brenner discussed reading the human genome as a means to unveil detailed, intricate paths of evolution. Following Dr. Brenner, Mark Van Gilst gave a presentation on his research, which uses C. elegans as a model organism.