The Lambert Lecture

The Lambert Lecture is supported by an endowment established by alumnus Benjamin Lambert, who earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Boston University (CAS ’55). After graduating from law school, he went on to pursue a distinguished career as a patent attorney with such major pharmaceutical companies as Merck and Johnson & Johnson. Each year, the Lambert Lecture addresses different topics at the frontiers of Chemistry and features some of the most distinguished and creative scientists working in molecular science today. This year's lecture, The (bio) Chemistry of CRISPR-Cas Genome Editing, will be presented by Jennifer Doudna, Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Professor in Biomedical and Health at UC Berkeley. Genome editing with CRISPR technology is transforming biology. CRISPR-Cas9, an RNA-guided enzyme with remarkable abilities to recognize and cleave DNA, operates by mechanisms that both explain its biological function and provide insights into technology development. I will discuss research into this amazing family of proteins: where they came from, how they work and how Cas9-based technologies are revolutionizing research, biomedicine and agriculture. I will discuss how bacterial CRISPR adaptive immune systems inspire creation of powerful genome editing tools, enabling advances in both fundamental biology and applications in medicine. I will also discuss the ethical challenges of some of these applications.