The Inscrutable Chromosomes

The Inscrutable Chromosomes

Shown above are some of the slides from a 20 minute Power Point talk.

The talk was given to scientists in Grace Auditorium at Cold Spring Harbor Lab's 2011 Personal Genomes meeting.

Title

The Mystery of the Inscrutable Chromosomes and how whole genome sequencing solved the case.

Media

The script and art were created for a Power Point Talk.

Source

The talk was based on a paper by scientists at the Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Designed for the Personal Genomes meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Lab and presented to the scientists attending the meeting.

The Power Point talk showed the story of a woman with cancer and how sequencing her whole genome revealed translocations that FISH disguised. She avoided a painful bone marrow transplant and received the right treatment for her AML cancer.

Details about the talk:

• Although the audience were scientists doing basic research, I wrote the script to appeal to a general audience.
• The presentation was based on a paper by Dr. Elaine Mardis and her colleagues at the Genome Institute at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
• The paper was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, April 20, 2011, titled "Use of Whole-Genome Sequencing to Diagnose a Cryptic Fusion Oncogene".

It's important to show the value and benefit of science — especially the developments in personalized medicine. Using art and narrative to communicate complex stories is a very effective way to explain difficult science and engage the public.