Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, will present this year's annual Sigma Xi lecture, entitled " 'Ewe'-genics: Dolly and the Cloning of Mammals." His talk, which is free and open to the MIT community, will take place on Monday, May 12 at 8.30pm in Rm 9-150.
Professor Jaenisch's lecture will review the history of cloning whole organisms and, in the wake of the recent cloning of a sheep--christened Dolly--in Britain, some of the scientific and ethical implications for cloning of mammals and even humans. Professor Jaenisch is well known for his work with transgenic mice models and research in mammalian cell development. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, and winner of the 1996 Boehringer Mannheim Molecular Bioanalytics Prize.
The talk will be preceded by the annual initiation dinner in Sala de Puerto Rico for newly elected members of the MIT chapter of Sigma Xi. Anyone wishing to join Dr. Jaenisch and the new members for the dinner beforehand should contact Professor Linn Hobbs, Chapter president, at x3-6835 or hobbs@mit.edu>. Sherry and dinner begin at 6:15pm, and the cost is $15.
Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, was founded in 1886 as a counterpart to societies such as Phi Beta Kappa for those involved in scientific research. The Society publishes the journal American Scientist and now includes 103,000 active members affiliated with 517 chapters and clubs in North America. MIT is the Society's largest chapter. Election to the Sigma Xi is based on demonstrated contributions to scientific research and, for student member elections, academic performance as well.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 7, 1997.
