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Who am I and what do I do?
I am a geneticist that studies obesity
Getting lunch – it’s a jungle out there
Primal directives of life:
1. Find and eat food2. Avoid becoming food3. Reproduce4. Repeat
Seven deadly sins
Scully, Nature, 508(7496):S50-1, 2014
Energy balance
EnergyIntake
EnergyExpenditure
Food IntakeBasal MetabolismPhysical Activity
Adaptive Thermogenesis
Twin studies
Heritability of BODY WEIGHT = Heritability of HEIGHT
Locke et al, Nature 2015
Your genes are like a hand of poker
You can’t do anything about the cards you haveBut you can choose how to play them
We become fat because we eat more than we burn, but why we eat more is complex
Obese people find it hard to lose weight NOT because they are BAD, but because of their biology
Trying to understand the genetics between obese and lean people is NOT giving obese folk an excuse
My message
King Canute
Message
Audience
Medium
Message
Why?
How?
What?
Why?
How?
What?
Why are you doing what you are doing?What is the question?
How have you chosen to answer the question?
What have you found out?What does this mean?
IntroductionAims and objectives
ApproachMaterials and methods
ResultsDiscussion
The foundation of scientific communication
AA Deprivation and FTO Protein Levels
eIF2a
FTO
H3
N46
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8
HEK 293
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8
MEFs (wt)
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8 16 24 +AA
Mouse Human
Why
How
What
Genetic variation – FTO – Obesity; Fasting reduces FTO expression. Why? Nutrients? Glucose? Amino acids?
Use 3 cell-lines; Amino acid starved; FTO measured by Western blot.
Amino acid starvation reduces FTO protein levels in 3 different cell-lines.
In order to determine…
We used/did/performed/measured…
We found that…This means…..
is a completely scalable concept
Why?
How?
What?
Individual experiments Projects Programmes Careers
Audience
Academic Specialist
Academic Non-specialist
Educated lay
Students
Young students
General public
Difficulty
Simplify ≠ Wrong
The cab-driver/David Cameron test
AA Deprivation and FTO Protein Levels
eIF2a
FTO
H3
N46
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8
HEK 293
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8
MEFs (wt)
-AA (Hrs)0 2 4 8 16 24 +AA
Mouse Human
Why
How
What
Genetic variation – FTO – Obesity; Fasting reduces FTO expression. Why? Nutrients? Glucose? Amino acids?
Use 3 cell-lines; Amino acid starved; FTO measured by Western blot.
Amino acid starvation reduces FTO protein levels in 3 different cell-lines.
Audience
Academic Specialist
Academic Non-specialist
Educated lay
Students
Young students
General public
Medium
Speaking
Writing
Social media
Radio
TV
Audience Reach
et al
Social media….a useful tool or a curse?
