Library Lunchtime Lecture Explores Anna Karenina & DNA
Last week on Thursday, Prof. Tayfun Özçelik and Asst. Prof. Katja Doerschner opened this semester's Library Lunchtime Lecture series with a joint presentation entitled "Anna Karenina and DNA: Collaborative Aspects of Cognitive Neurogenomics at Bilkent." The talk described a collaboration called IMAGINE (Imaging-GenomIcs-NEurosciences) at Bilkent University involving faculty and students from the Departments of Psychology and of Molecular Biology and Genetics, as well as from the engineering faculty, concerned with the genetic basis of disease within populations, with special reference to brain development. Prof. Özçelik started the lecture with a quotation from Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina: "every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." He then explained how genetic mutations, and therefore the resulting diseases or conditions, are similarly unique to families and local consanguineous groups. Following an outline of the development of the study of heredity and genetics since Mendel and a summary of the human genome project, Prof. Özçelik also talked about his own work, described in a previous library lecture, on the genetic basis for quadrupedal gait among certain families from eastern Anatolia and Iraq. Dr. Doerschner then introduced the field of cognitive neurogenomics and described the history of the study of the brain, starting with the "pseudo-science" phrenology in the nineteenth century. Describing how different cognitive functions are based on certain parts of the brain, she illustrated her work with some Turkish quadrupedal individuals by means of neuroimaging. This project is an excellent example of how collaboration between scholars of different disciplines can achieve important new discoveries and breakthroughs not possible when working separately. The lecture, which took place in the art gallery of main campus library, surrounded by the colorful paintings by artist İnci Çakmakçı, was extremely well attended by students and faculty alike. The Library Lecture series will continue in just two week's time on Wednesday, March 23 with a talk by Asst. Prof. Ted Kohn (AMER) about his recent and popular book Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt. We look forward to seeing you all there!
