WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 30, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Auditorium, Nebraska Union, 1400 R Street
Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 20, 2003 -- The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will resume the Nebraska Lectures: The Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series with a 4 p.m. lecture Oct. 30 in the auditorium of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.
James Van Etten, Allington Professor of Plant Pathology and recent inductee into the National Academy of Sciences, will speak. His lecture, titled "The Unusual Lifestyle of Giant Algal Viruses," will be geared toward a general audience, he said.
"I think it will be a real general talk with something of interest for just about everyone," Van Etten said. He said he plans to talk about some of the general properties of viruses, and about the specific properties of the viruses he discovered.
In 1981, Van Etten and a colleague discovered the first of what is now known to be an entirely new family of viruses. Members of the family, called Phycodnaviridae, infect algae and are among the most genetically complex viruses ever found. They have about 375 genes; in comparison, HIV contains 12 genes.
Only about 60 known virus families exist and this one's complex genetic structure and unique characteristics make it particularly intriguing and promising for research, Van Etten said. The initial discovery has led to several patents and many more discoveries, including information that may be significant to animal and plant health.
Van Etten's work has led to collaborative research with about 20 labs worldwide, including work by scientists examining potential health- and drug-related aspects of these viruses.
"Viruses are among the world's greatest architects," Van Etten said. "They have to be able to come apart easily, but they also have to be extremely stable." Viruses also can reproduce at blinding speed, he said, which is why when a person is infected by a flu virus, for instance, the person gets very sick quite rapidly.
The Nebraska Lectures are intended to share with the public the important research and scholarly activity conducted by UNL faculty. Previous lecturers have included David Forsythe, Charles J. Mach distinguished professor of political science; John Janovy, Varner professor of biological sciences; Barbara Plake, W.C. Meierhenry distinguished university professor of educational psychology; and Susan Rosowski, Adele Hall distinguished professor of English.
Van Etten's lecture is free and open to the public. It also will be videostreamed live; a link can be found the day of the event at www.unl.edu. A reception follows the lecture in the Heritage Room of the Nebraska Union.
The Nebraska Lectures: The Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series are co-sponsored by the UNL Research Council, the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.
Stephen Ragsdale, Charles Bessey professor and professor of biochemistry, and chair of the UNL Research Council, said another goal for the series is to present research findings to the public in non-scientific language.
"Members of the university community are producing outstanding accomplishments that should be widely recognized and celebrated," he said. "However, people in one field are often unaware of significant accomplishments in other disciplines. Often these major breakthroughs are presented in language that seems esoteric beyond that discipline. At this forum, notable discoveries will be presented in a non-specialist format, which should spur the imagination and help build morale and a sense of community."
Van Etten joined the Nebraska faculty in 1966, was named Allington professor in 1986 and in 1992, received the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award, the highest research accolade conferred by the University of Nebraska system. He earned his doctoral and master's degrees at the University of Illinois both in plant pathology, and his bachelor's in biology at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. He did post-doctoral work in the department of genetics at the University of Pavia in Italy before coming to Nebraska.
CONTACT: Stephen Ragsdale, Bessey Professor, Biochemistry, (402) 472-2943
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Posted by Tom Simons, Office of University Communications
Phone: (402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825