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Lake Forest, Ill. - Dr. Susan Lindquist, former director of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research and professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will deliver the 21st Annual Volwiler Distinguished Scientist Lecture at Lake Forest College on Monday, March 26 at 8 p.m. Aimed at a general audience Lindquist’s presentation titled “"From Mad Cows to "Psi-chotic" Yeast: Strange Diseases and Strange Genetics" will be held in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Lindquist is an expert in protein folding, studying biological phenomena that influence the different shapes that proteins take. Her research is relevant to evolution, neurological diseases, cancer, and surprisingly, nanotechnology.

Protein misfolding has been implicated as a major mechanism in many severe neurological disorders including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. Lindquist and colleagues have developed yeast strains that serve as living test tubes in which to study these disorders, unraveling how protein folding contributes to them. They have succeeded in reproducing many of the biological consequences of Parkinson’s disease in yeast cells. In addition she has identified a protein in yeast that can dissolve amyloid fibers, the plaque found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Lindquist has demonstrated that inherited traits can be passed on without any DNA or RNA components, findings that have added a twist to traditional understandings of inheritance. In particular, she has shown that a class of proteins called heat shock proteins can reveal hidden genetic variations in fruit flies and plants when they are subject to certain environmental stresses. Most of these variations will be harmful. But a few unusual combinations could produce valuable new traits, spurring the pace of evolution. This mechanism might be harnessed to create better crop plants by conventional breeding methods, without the need for transgenic manipulations of crops. Lindquist is also investigating the importance of this mechanism in the progression of cancerous tumors.

Lindquist is also widely known for her research with prions, proteins that are responsible for conditions such as mad cow disease. In addition to studying how prions initiate neurological damage she has demonstrated potentially positive roles for prions. One example of this is research she conducted with Nobel laureate Eric Kandel, which provided strong evidence that in mammalian brains, prions may be integral to memory storage.

Lindquist is a member and former director (2001-2004) of the Whitehead Institute, a professor of biology at MIT, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. From 1977 to 2001 she was a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, University of Chicago. She received a PhD in Biology from Harvard University in 1976. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996, the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, and the Institute of Medicine in 2006. Lindquist’s honors also include a spot on Discover magazine’s 2002 list of the top 50 women scientists and the Scientific American “SA50” top leaders in business, policy, and research for 2006.

Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel is located a the intersection of Sheridan and College roads in Lake Forest. The College is accessible via Metra and ample parking is available on campus. For more information please call 847-735-6010.

Lindquist's lecture will be the 21st Annual Distinguished Scientist Lecture under the Ernest H. Volwiler Fund. The Lectureship and the Ernest H. Volwiler Chair in Natural Sciences and Mathematics, held by Professor Edward Packel at Lake Forest College, have been made possible by a gift from Dr. Volwiler. The late Dr. Volwiler was formerly Chairman of the Board of Abbott Laboratories and a trustee of Lake Forest College.


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