Brookhaven Lecture

Vaccines are effective against viruses such as polio and measles, but vaccines against other important viruses, such as HIV and flu viruses, may be impossible to obtain. These viruses change their genetic makeup each time they replicate so that the immune system cannot recognize all their variations. Hence it is important to develop new antiviral agents that inhibit virus replication. To learn about the breakthrough work being done in the Biology Department to develop agents to inhibit viral replication, attend the 441st Brookhaven Lecture entitled Molecular Sleds and More: Novel Antiviral Agents via Single-Molecule Biology. To be presented by biochemist Walter Mangel, the lecture will take place on Wednesday, October 15, beginning at 4 p.m. in Berkner Hall. During the lecture, Dr. Mangel will discuss his group's work with a model system, the human adenovirus, which causes, among other ailments, pink eye, blindness and obesity. Mangel's team has developed a promising drug candidate that works by inihibiting adenovirus proteinase, an enzyme necessary for viral replication. Walter Mangel, Ph.D., joined BNL's Biology Department in 1985. He has performed research at more than eight different beam lines at the National Synchrotron Light Source. He holds four patents, with three more pending. His research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.