Howard Burton, "Conversations About Biology" (Open Agenda, 2020)

This Ideas Roadshow Collection includes five Ideas Roadshow books that have been developed from filmed wide-ranging conversations with the following leading researchers: sleep scientist Matthew Walker (UC Berkeley), biochemist Nick Lane (UCL), neuroscientist Jay Gargus (UC Irvine), neuroscientist Alcino Silva (UCLA), and geneticist Stephen Scherer (University of Toronto). Howard Burton is the founder and host of all Ideas Roadshow Conversations and was the Founding Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics and an MA in philosophy.

This collection includes a detailed preface highlighting the connections between the different books which offer a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship while each individual book also includes a detailed introduction plus questions for discussion. The books examine a wide range of fascinating topics related to biology and related disciplines such as neuroscience, genetics, biochemistry, sleep science and more through an engaging dialogue format. Topics that are explored include: evolution and the origin of life; how copy number variation brings us a deeper understanding of both human variability and disease; findings from autism research; our understanding of sleep's essential role in our daily lives; research work done into the specific molecular mechanisms of neurobiology with the goal of being able to intervene in the case of for instance autism and schizophrenia; our genetic understanding and its implications for the future of medicine, together with the importance of understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms in order to successfully treat a wide range of genetic disorders, and much more.

Galina Limorenko is a doctoral candidate in Neuroscience with a focus on biochemistry and molecular biology of neurodegenerative diseases at EPFL in Switzerland. To discuss and propose the book for an interview you can reach her at galina.limorenko@epfl.ch.

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