Dr. Zdenko Herceg of the IARC on Epigenomics

In our last Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Speaker Series lecture on the 10th of November, we had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Zdenko Herceg of the IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization about epigenomics - cellular mechanisms that go beyond genomics, which govern when and how genes in one's cells are activated.

Just like how a computer's software controls the activity of its hardware, a cell's epigenome controls the activity of the genes in one's genome! We heard about how these epigenomic mechanisms can act as either buffers or as mediators of environmental factors that influence an individual's risk of developing cancer - like smoking, viral infections, and inflammation!

We also saw how science can be conveyed in cartoons and paintings! Thank you Dr. Herceg for the insightful talk and to Sunway University and the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation for making the JCDSS series possible.