Genes & Prizes

A capacity crowd of over 50 squeezed into the Swoosh Lounge at the British School of Brussels (BSB) to hear Prof Rene Rezsohazy from the Universite Catholique de Louvain consider the question: "Whatever happened to the Gene?". The event on 23 October 2012 was also the occasion for presentation of prizes to the winners of our 2012 Chemistry Challenge competition.

Our second evening event of the Autumn covered the topic of classical genetics with Prof Rene Rezsohazy of the Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL) (see pictured below on right with section Chairman Bob Crichton).

Prof. Rezsohazy took us on a whistle-stop tour of the development of genetic science and molecular biology via a dozen or more Nobel Prize winners. He started with the founding 'dogma' of Beadle and Tatum of "one gene - one enzyme" and revealed the increasing complexity of structures and interactions that inform our understanding of how genes control development and function.

The discussion and questions continued well after the formal presentation with the aid of drinks and nibbles.

Prizes
The evening also saw the presentation of certificates and cash prizes to pupils from a variety of local schools who had excelled in our Chemistry Challenge Competition.

Pictured above (left) is overall winner - and recipient of the Keith Price Prize - Ally McDermott from BSB. Details of all prize winners for 2012 and, if you fancy trying your hand, a link to the Challenge papers can be found here.