The MOLEN PI, Dr. Umut Toprak will deliver a keynote talk at the Satellite Symposium “Chitinous structures in ecdysozoan species”, which will be held under the 116th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG)! This year’s meeting will take place in Stuttgart at the University of Hohenheim from September 9th to 13th, 2024.
Umut’s Talk: “Insect Equals Chitin: The Story of Wigglesworth, the Young Man, and the Old Man”
What does “insect equals chitin” mean? How about a trip back in time to get an answer on this? Umut will take you on a mysterious journey into the world of chitin starting in France in 1762! It would be more than a century before that mysterious knowledge was given its name, which happened in 1880 again in France. The story continued in Cambridge, UK in the 20. century and then moved across the ocean, to Canada in 2008. The pieces of the 246-year-old puzzle are finally completed. You will meet “the young man” and also “the old man”, and the famous father of insect physiology “Sir Vincent Wigglesworth”! But as you see in the flier, there is this fourth person with the glasses, a mysterious character that will make you quite surprised at the end! We are positive that you had never witnessed such an exciting insect science story! A chitin story…
About the Symposium:
This satellite symposium aims to bring together scientists who are involved at different levels with chitin-containing structures in Ecdysozoa, in order to gain an improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying diversity through comparative perspectives. To achieve this, scientists working on the ultrastructure, biochemistry, biophysics, and biomechanics of chitin-containing structures in Ecdysozoa will be invited, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a better understanding of the hierarchical assembly of cuticular layers from chitin-containing fibrils. The regulation of synthesis and breakdown of cuticle components during molting will also be looked at comparatively, as well as the evolution of genes encoding chitin synthases, chitin-binding proteins, and chitin-modifying/degrading enzymes. The symposium will be held on Sep 9, 9:30a.m.-8:30 p.m. at the University of Hohenheim, BIO building Lecture hall HS Ö1. The event is organized by chair is Dr. Hans Merzendorfer (University of Siegen). For the symposium web site, please visit here, for the web site of the entire meeting, please visit here.
Hope to see you all in Stuttgart!
