Bee expert to discuss genetic roots of social life in Discovery Park presentation

Gene Robinson, the Swanlund Chair of Entomology, director of the Institute for Genomic Biology and the director of the Bee Research Facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will present “Me to We: Searching for the Genetic Roots of Social Life” at 11 a.m. Wednesday (March 21) in the Burton D. Morgan Center, Room 121.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series. The Purdue Department of Entomology and the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience are co-sponsors.

The 2018 recipient of the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, Robinson uses genomics and systems biology to study the mechanisms and evolution of social life, using the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, as his principal model. In his lecture, Robinson will demonstrate through the honey bee and related bee species how the new science of genomics enables the study of social life in molecular terms, with examples of mechanisms relating selfish behavior that have evolved to promote cooperation, and connections between socially responsive genomes and human health.

Robinson obtained his PhD from Cornell University and joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. He is the author or co-author of over 275 publications, including 26 published in Science or Nature, and has been the recipient or co-recipient of over $50 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture and private foundations. Robinson also pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior, led the effort to gain approval from the National Institutes of Health for sequencing the honey bee genome, and founded the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium.

Other upcoming events in the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series are:

March 29: Bob Latiff, adjunct professor, University of Notre Dame; research professor, George Mason University; research and technology consultant, R. Latiff Associates; and major general (retired), U.S. Air Force. Lecture topic to be determined. 1:30-2:30 p.m., Burton D. Morgan Center, Room 121.

April 12: Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College; founder and senior adviser, 350.org. "Hot Times: Reports from the Front Lines of the Climate Fight." 7:30 p.m., Stewart Center, Fowler Hall.

April 24: Venkatesh Narayanamurti, the Benjamin Peirce Research Professor of Technology and Public Policy at Harvard University. “Bridging the Basic-Applied Dichotomy and the Cycles of Invention and Discovery.” 1:30-2:30 p.m., Burton D. Morgan Building, Room 121.

April 26: Arup K. Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering; professor of chemistry, physics and biological engineering; and director, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “How to Hit HIV Where It Hurts.” 4-5 p.m., location to be determined.

For more information on upcoming presentations, visit the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series website at www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/dls, or contact Maria Longoria-Littleton, Discovery Park engagement operations manager, at mlongori@purdue.edu.

Writer: Angie Roberts, akroberts@purdue.edu