Cell death control is key to progress on disease, says Boyle Medal recipient

Most diseases involve cells dying too early or not dying at all. Learning how to intervene in this cell death process may one day help scientists conquer currently intractable ailments.

An explanation of how cell death happens forms the core of a talk to be given Wednesday evening by the recipient of the 2014 RDS Irish Times Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence, Prof Séamus Martin.

The 7pm talk, which is free and open to the public, will be preceded by the formal presentation of the Medal to Prof Martin, the Smurfit professor of medical genetics at Trinity College Dublin.

“We are trying to figure out how cells die,” Prof Martin said in advance of his talk. “Sometimes they kill themselves, sometimes they are killed by other cells and also by infection and injury. Those are very different types of cell deaths and this has implications for how our bodies respond to the dead cell.”

Cell death is central to the processes of life but it needs to be controlled. And sometimes this control is lost. “Most disease is underpinned by cells dying inappropriately or conversely not dying as occurs in cancer,” he said. “If we can understand how cell death is regulated then at some time in the future we could go in and switch it on or off as needed.”

The processes themselves can also be a source of wonderment. "People don't normally think about the complexity and beauty of cells, " he said. "People have a vague understanding from what they learned at school, so this is understandable. But when you try to explore what is there you realise how complex it is, millions of molecules working together in harmony. We are only beginning to understand the sheer complexity of it."

The lecture takes place at the RDS Concert Hall at 7pm Wednesday evening. It is free and open to the public but places must be booked. Contact rds.ie/boylemedal to reserve a place. Further information is available from Karen Sheeran on (01) 240 7289 or science@rds.ie