Thursday 5th November 2015

16.00 - 17.00

The Seminar Room, Second Floor, Oakfield House

The Immune Function of Wild Mice, Mus musculus domesticus 

Abstract 

Mice are the workhorse of laboratory immunology, but almost nothing is known about the immune responses of wild mice. The genetics of wild mice, as well as their ecological setting and exposure to infection, are likely to profoundly affect their immune responses. While many factors have been experimentally shown to affect animal immune responses, here we have sought to understand what factors actually do affect these and their relative importance in the wild. The work has encompassed in-depth immunological phenotyping and population and immunogenetic analyses of wild mice.

Biography

Mark Viney is, by background, a parasitologist with interests in the biology of parasitic nematodes, particularly the genus Strongyloides. He has worked on many aspects of the basic biology, genetics and immunology ofStrongyloides, most recently leading the genome sequencing of four species of Strongyloies and free-living relatives to uncover the genetic basis of Strongyloides' parasitism. He also uses the model nematdoe C. elegans to adddress basic questions of nematode phenotypic plasticity.

  

ALL WELCOME