Watson Lecture - Rob Phillips: The Hidden Poetry of the Genome

One of the greatest achievements of the human mind is that, through sequences of symbols, we can represent incredibly complicated concepts, facts, feelings, and ideas. With the 26 letters in the English alphabet alone, our libraries are filled with words that can make us laugh or cry and call us to action. Strings of 0s and 1s are the language of the devices we now can no longer live without. A lucky subset of us find equally moving collections of mathematical symbols.

The latest entries into this collection of symbols are the famed A, C, G, and T letters that make up the iconic DNA double helix. A whopping 10^17, of these As, Cs, Gs, and Ts have been deposited on NIH databases. Nonetheless, there is so much we don't know about their hidden meaning.

In this talk, Rob Phillips, the Fred and Nancy Morris Professor of Biophysics, Biology, and Physics, will describe the efforts of modern science to decipher this genomic Rosetta Stone. Though we can read and write DNA nearly at will, because of our lack of understanding of its real grammar, we are still unable to see its most meaningful hidden poetry. Phillips's talk will show how we are engaged in an experimental and theoretical mission to find the rules of that hidden poetry.

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Evening Schedule

6 p.m. — Activities and music. Food, drinks, and books available for purchase

7 p.m. — Doors open

7:30 p.m. — Talk and Q&A

8:30 p.m. — Post-talk concessions and conversation

The live event is in-person and a recording will be made available on our Youtube channel.

About the Series

For more than 100 years, the Watson Lectures have brought the wonder of Caltech research and discovery to the public.

Free and open to the public, the Watson Lecture Series offers a unique and accessible opportunity to learn more about cutting-edge science directly from Caltech's premier researchers. Come early to mingle with your neighbors over food, drink and music, as well as interactive displays related to the evening's topic. Then head inside to hear a stimulating talk and stay to ask your burning questions.

Many past Watson Lectures are available on YouTube.

For more information, please contact The Caltech Ticket Office by email at [email protected].