2015 Experimental Biology - Day 5

Yesterday was the final day of the meeting with many late breaking poster presentations as well as this year's Nobel Laureate lecture.

This year's American Physiological Society Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Lecture was given by Dr. Robert J Lefkowitz from Howard Hughes Med. Inst. and  Duke Univ. Med. Ctr. He was awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 2012. What makes him famous is a tiny receptor located in the plasma membrane of cells called the G-protein coupled receptor. He is known for discovering the receptor for adrenaline (i.e. the fight or flight hormone) by attaching iodine  to the hormone then tracking where it went. His colleague and co-Nobel prize recipient was Dr. Brian Kobilka who discovered the gene that is responsible for regulating the receptor formation.