Nerd Nite #8 – You Say You Want Some Evolution: Gibbons and Spiders Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Nerd Nite is a monthly event that strives for an inebriated, salacious, yet deeply academic vibe. We aim to entertain, educate, elucidate, enlighten, and other things that start with “e.” Be there and be square!

When: Tuesday, October 8, 2013, doors at 6:00pm, event at 7:00pm Where: Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, Portland Cost: $8.00* suggested cover at the door

This Nerd Nite will feature the following two talks:

Swinging Between Genomics, Evolution, and Conservation The small apes (or gibbons) are amazing primates living in South East Asia and currently threatened by extinction. They have many distinctive traits separating them from their cousins, the great apes (orang, gorilla and chimp), including the ability to move just using their arms (i.e. brachiation), monogamy, and vocalization to defend their territory. Lucia Carbone, PhD, Assistant Professor at OHSU studying genomics and epigenetics, has been studying the gibbon genome to learn more about these species and primate evolution in general. Her talk will go over her latest findings and highlight a fascinating connection between processes in evolution and human disease.

Spider Venoms: The Evolution of an Arsenal Spiders (all 44,000 species) play key roles in our ecosystems as predators of insects. Without spiders there would be many more insects and fewer plants. Evolution over the last 400 million years has created enormous diversity among spiders in predatory tactics, including web and venom use, which has resulted in a phenomenal diversity of silk and venom chemistry. Greta Binford, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology at Lewis & Clark College, studies diversity and evolution of spiders and their venoms, including the toxic brown recluse and its relatives. She will highlight some of the beautiful biological diversity of spiders’ feeding biology, silks, and venoms, and discuss how evolution has generated a "pharmacopeia" of unique toxins that are rich in potential for human applications.

*A note on the suggested cover: Nerd Nite is completely supported by money collected at the door. We are committed to offering education opportunities to adults who want to learn, so if $8 is a hardship for you, please come anyway and donate what you can.

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