Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
DNA: Darwin, Diversity, Destiny

with Jon Raymond
Monday, June 1, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

DNA are three letters everyone has heard of, but they stand for a concept not everyone understands, especially those who think high school biology students just dissect frogs before lunch.

This lecture by Jonathan Carl Raymond, "DNA: Darwin, Diversity, Destiny," will shed light on the ramifications of the 1953 discovery that transformed biology and the scientific world.

Raymond will explain how genetics can be understood as a language based on four chemical "letters" that spell out the building blocks of all life. He will outline how biologists and chemists used this knowledge to create new directions for research, new industries and new ways of understanding life itself.

To take just one example, Raymond points out that knowing the differences in DNA sequence for individuals with various diseases might lead quickly to new and more precise diagnoses and treatments tailored to each person. Each discovery leads to more and more unexpected answers and even more questions.

Dr. Raymond, now retired, has spent forty years in molecular biology and biotechnology, most of it at Cetus Corporation and Roche Molecular systems. He has been part of teams that produced products that influenced countless people. His talk will shed light on what is not only a fascinating scientific adventure, but also a subject we all need to learn more about because it permeates so many aspects of our lives.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Gualala Road in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.