Symposium

Responsive Cells to Responsive Individuals: The Concept of Fate Through the Lens of Genetics
Sema K. Sgaier
New York University/University Of Toronto
http://saturn.med.nyu.edu/research/dg/joynerlab/alumni_sema.html

Summary
This is a voyage into the concept of whether there is such a thing as ‘fate’ as a driving force in our lives. Are we free in our choices or is an inner pre-programmed force taking us to a predestined end? Are we as individuals influencing our environment or shaped by it?

I began my exploration into the realm of “fate” as a geneticist interested in determining how our cerebellum, a region of the brain, develops into a highly elaborate 3-dimensional structure from a simple collection of identical cells during its development.

This question was fascinating -- how did these anatomical subdivisions and intricate pattern of folia arise? What we needed to do was to determine how these cells behaved during fetal development where the brains environment was in constant flux. Was each cell pre-destined to reach a fixed destination or was this decision dictated by the environment that they encountered?

To answer this question, we developed a novel mouse genetic technique (inducible genetic fate mapping) whereby a cell could be labeled indefinitely and followed throughout all stages of development by changing its genetic composition. The results were fascinating! Contrary to expectation, we found that a cell’s final destination was determined by its original position. Thus it was fated or preprogrammed to contribute to a sub-portion of the final elaborate structure. Our studies illustrated that each cell took a specific path whereby their movement as a group caused major morphological changes in the developing cerebellum.

This finding has some cosmic implications: if we are ultimately gigantic structures built by millions of cells and if the final destination of our building blocks are predetermined and genetically defined, are we as a whole fated to a certain destination?

Biography

Sema Sgaier is a scientist and visual artist who currently lives between India and Canada. She has a PhD and M.Sc. in Developmental Genetics from New York University and an M.A in Neuroscience from Brown University. During the last 5 years, she has employed cutting edge genetic technologies to discover the 3D assembly of the brain. Trained at the International Center for Photography in New York, her photo work has been published in several journals. She lived in many countries – Libya, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, USA, Canada and most recently in India. The cultural kaleidoscope of her life has fired a persistent yearning for discovery. She wants to spend her life exploring and discovering the macro and micro aspects of life through science and art.