Daniela Robles Espinoza's guest appearances

Daniela Robles Espinoza

iBiology

iBiology: Subtitled versions

Jayme Dyer

James Estes

Helen Piwnica-Worms

John Schiller

Lalita Ramakrishnan

Susan Lindquist

Tyler Allen

Melina Hale

Julie Theriot

Jody Rosenblatt

Elizabeth Hadly

Mohit Kumar Jolly

Vibrio Fischeri

Lora Hooper

Dan Littman

OwlTail

Daniela Robles

Daniela Robles Espinoza explains that melanoma is a rare and deadly skin cancer. Most cases of melanoma are caused by too much exposure to the sun. However, melanoma can arise in individuals without a history of sun exposure, oftentimes without a known cause. One day, Robles Espinoza was approached by a doctor that observed a number of families with high incidences of melanoma. The doctor asked her to identify the genetic origins of this cancer in some of the families. Robles Espinoza sequenced their DNA and, through rigorous sequence analysis, discovered mutations in POT1 and other functionally related genes in several families. POT1 regulates the length of chromosome ends, or telomeres. She and her colleagues performed in vitro experiments that showed the POT1 mutations she identified in the patients completely disrupted POT1’s ability to bind DNA. Furthermore, they observed longer telomeres in the individuals that had these mutations, suggesting that disrupted POT1 activity might be causing the high rates of melanoma in these families.Speaker Biography:Daniela Robles-Espinoza recently received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, in the UK, and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Experimental Cancer Genetics group in the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. She uses bioinformatics and computational methods to study the genetic factors that influence cancer development, especially melanoma, in high-risk families. She's also interested in the development of computational tools that aid in visualization of high-throughput sequencing data. She is dedicated to science communication and won best talk at the international annual melanoma conference (SMR) in 2013.In her spare time, she enjoys science communication, talking to students and contributing to science popularisation blogs, as well as oil painting and bellydancing.http://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/c-daniela-robles-espinoza.html

Daniela Robles Espinoza explains that melanoma is a rare and deadly skin cancer. Most cases of melanoma are caused by too much exposure to the sun. However, melanoma can arise in individuals without a history of sun exposure, oftentimes without a known cause. One day, Robles Espinoza was approached by a doctor that observed a number of families with high incidences of melanoma. The doctor asked her to identify the genetic origins of this cancer in some of the families. Robles Espinoza sequenced their DNA and, through rigorous sequence analysis, discovered mutations in POT1 and other functionally related genes in several families. POT1 regulates the length of chromosome ends, or telomeres. She and her colleagues performed in vitro experiments that showed the POT1 mutations she identified in the patients completely disrupted POT1’s ability to bind DNA. Furthermore, they observed longer telomeres in the individuals that had these mutations, suggesting that disrupted POT1 activity might be causing the high rates of melanoma in these families. Speaker Biography: Daniela Robles-Espinoza recently received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, in the UK, and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Experimental Cancer Genetics group in the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. She uses bioinformatics and computational methods to study the genetic factors that influence cancer development, especially melanoma, in high-risk families. She's also interested in the development of computational tools that aid in visualization of high-throughput sequencing data. She is dedicated to science communication and won best talk at the international annual melanoma conference (SMR) in 2013. In her spare time, she enjoys science communication, talking to students and contributing to science popularisation blogs, as well as oil painting and bellydancing. <a href="http://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/c-daniela-robles-espinoza.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/c-daniela-robles-espinoza.html</a>

C. Daniela Robles Espinoza: Solving a Family Mystery: Hunting for the Genes Behind Skin Cancer (with English subtitles)

C. Daniela Robles Espinoza: Solving a Family Mystery: Hunting for the Genes Behind Skin Cancer