This talk was given by Dr J Harrison on Wednesday, 4th March. Dr Harrison spoke about how mitosis is the process allowing one cell to divide and form an entire body of cells. The diagram below shows how mitosis normally takes place: However, sometimes there can be errors in this process with the potential to cause cancer: Which in real life would look like this: The green colour shows the movement of the chromosomes with the orange spots representing the centromeres. As can be seen from the diagram, one chromosome has failed to separate and has lagged behind as the others move to the poles of the cell. These cell division errors can be modelled using mathematics, but this is challenging due to the rarity of these events. He explained that what is different about these error events when compared with the normal behavior of chromosomes in cell division is the decreased distance between sister chromatids. The tension in the protein spring which connects chromatids is one of the key triggers controlling this process. He then went on to speak about the modelling of the COVID-19 epidemic (at the time of the talk we were not yet in lockdown and the virus had only recently started to spread beyond China although there were more cases outside of China than inside). He discussed how infectious diseases can also be modelled using mathematics which allows researchers to compare how effective the different strategies of managing a disease are – for example closing schools and imposing travel restrictions. Many of us have been able to see through the news how mathematical modelling has been used in this way and the importance of the Reproduction number (R0) in how the disease is managed. The diagram below shows the effect of imposing travel restrictions and how this worked in Wuhan to reduce the reproduction number. The red line on each graph is the point at which travel restrictions were introduced. It was really interesting to hear about how Maths can be used in Biology and how it is now of particular significance in the modelling of the current pandemic. Especially as the R0 number is now being used to determine when and how lockdown is eased and to predict the possibility of a second wave.
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AuthorOur blogs are written by the girls that attend this society. Archives
June 2020
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