Cancer, bio-engineering, AIDS among topics at Biotech 2001 conference

Those presentations by nationally recognized experts will cap the East Coast’s premier biotechnology conference for teachers. In addition to discussion of recent developments in biotechnology, the conference, which is sponsored by the university’s Fralin Biotechnology Center, features hands-on workshops for high school teachers and college science professors to help them teach biotechnology concepts. The workshops are held on Thursday and Friday afternoons following the conference sessions and all day on Saturday.

Speakers scheduled for the morning of July 26 are:

- Barbara Vonderhaar, of the National Cancer Institute, who will give a presentation entitled "Prolactin: The Forgotten Hormone of Human Breast Cancer."

- Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, will give a presentation entitled "Forging a New Partnership between Scientists and Science Teachers: Redefining the Scientific Community for the 21st Century."

- William Ward of Rutgers University, discussing green fluorescent protein.

Speakers scheduled for the morning of July 27 are:

- Kathy Hudson, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who will discuss the development of policies on privacy issues for the Human Genome Project.

- Satya Dandekar, of the University of California at Davis, who will give a presentation entitled: "A Gut Feeling: Early Host-Pathogen Interactions in AIDS."

- Abhaya Dandekar, of the University of California at Davis, who will discuss bio-engineering of fruit and nut trees for quality and productivity.

Additional information about the conference is available at the Fralin Biotechnology Center’s Web site (www.biotech.vt.edu) or by calling Toby Horn at 540- 231-2692.

PR CONTACT: Stewart MacInnis
540-231-5863 [email protected]