Lecture

Personalized Health through the Eyes of a Fly

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In course

HUM-388: Personalized health: biomedical & social challenge

La médecine personnalisée, préventive, prédictive et participative bouleverse les connaissances médicales établies, ainsi que les configurations sociales et politiques de la médecine. Ce cours analyse ces processus à travers une approche interdisciplinaire ...

Description

This lecture explores the use of fruit flies as avatars for personalized health, focusing on a case study of a patient with treatment-resistant colorectal cancer. It delves into the development of a personalized therapy using genomic analysis and robotics-based screening, leading to a significant treatment response. The lecture also covers the genetic variation in gut immunocompetence, the impact of mitochondrial genomic variation on health, and the influence of the gut microbiota on infection resistance. Additionally, it discusses the genetic determinants of circadian rhythms and the role of Drosophila in driving personalized health through genetic tools and functional screens.

Instructor

Luca Chiapperino

Expertise Social Studies of Science; Science and Technology Studies; Public Health Ethics; Applied Philosophy; Sustainability Transitions Teaching & PhD Courses Health A: Innovation, Equity, Sustainability HUM-125(a) The course provides an interdisciplinary examination of key global health challenges, focusing on biomedical innovations, pharmaceuticals, sustainability, mental health, and health policies. It offer a critical skillset to engineering students approaching these complex health ch

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Circadian rhythm

A circadian rhythm (sərˈkeɪdiən), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., endogenous) and responds to the environment (is entrained by the environment). Circadian rhythms are regulated by a circadian clock whose primary function is to rhythmically co-ordinate biological processes so they occur at the correct time to maximise the fitness of an individual.

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSD), also known as circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWD), are a family of sleep disorders which affect the timing of sleep. CRSDs arise from a persistent pattern of sleep/wake disturbances that can be caused either by dysfunction in one's biological clock system, or by misalignment between one's endogenous oscillator and externally imposed cues. As a result of this mismatch, those affected by circadian rhythm sleep disorders have a tendency to fall asleep at unconventional time points in the day.

Bacterial circadian rhythm

Bacterial circadian rhythms, like other circadian rhythms, are endogenous "biological clocks" that have the following three characteristics: (a) in constant conditions (i.e. constant temperature and either constant light {LL} or constant darkness {DD}) they oscillate with a period that is close to, but not exactly, 24 hours in duration, (b) this "free-running" rhythm is temperature compensated, and (c) the rhythm will entrain to an appropriate environmental cycle. Until the mid-1980s, it was thought that only eukaryotic cells had circadian rhythms.

Circadian clock

A circadian clock, or circadian oscillator, is a biochemical oscillator that cycles with a stable phase and is synchronized with solar time. Such a clock's in vivo period is necessarily almost exactly 24 hours (the earth's current solar day). In most living things, internally synchronized circadian clocks make it possible for the organism to anticipate daily environmental changes corresponding with the day–night cycle and adjust its biology and behavior accordingly.

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, and fatigue. Most colorectal cancers are due to old age and lifestyle factors, with only a small number of cases due to underlying genetic disorders. Risk factors include diet, obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity.

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