Time

Feb 23 2006 - 5:30pm

Location

EA 160

Speaker

Mike Reed (Duke University)

Seminar Website

http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/colloquium/

Abstract

Absract: Folate and methionine metabolism, a small part of cell biochemistry, is crucial for cell replication and DNA methylation. There is mounting evidence that the mechanisms by which some gene polymorphisms or dietary deficiencies are statistically linked to heart disease and certain cancers involve disruptions of folate and methionine metabolism. Folate metabolism is also the target of several chemotheraputic agents and some antibiotics target folate metabolism in bacteria. A collaborative mathematical modeling project (with Cornelia Ulrich of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute and Fred Nijhout of the Duke Department of Biology) has the goal of understanding the quantitative and qualitative emergent properties of the whole biochemical network. Published and current work will be described as well as several difficult public health issues. The modeling and biological investigations have raised new and difficult mathematical questions about how stochastic fluctuations propagate through biochemical networks.