Vera Ros
Vera Ros obtained her PhD at the University of Amsterdam (IBED). She worked as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania (US) and at Wageningen University, where she is now an Associate Professor at the Laboratory of Virology. She is interested in the evolution of host-parasite interactions, with a focus on interactions between insects and micro-organisms. Her current research includes virus-induced behavioural manipulation, covert (persistent/latent) virus infections in insects and the use of viruses for biological control of insect pests.
Insane in the brain: How viruses manipulate host behaviour
Parasitic modification of host behaviour is a widely adopted strategy of parasites (including viruses) to enhance their own transmission. The examples of behavioural manipulation are rapidly accumulating, covering a broad spectrum of parasites and hosts. Only a few of these parasites are known to manifest and alter these behavioral changes from the central nervous system (CNS) itself (so called neuroparasites), and little is known about the mechanisms behind these alterations. A typical case of behavioural manipulation is found in insects infected with baculoviruses. Infected caterpillars show enhanced mobility (hyperactivity) and climb to the top of plants or the forest canopy prior to death (‘tree-top disease’ or ‘Wipfelkrankheit’). As a consequence, the virus is spread over a larger area, thereby increasing the chance of infecting a new caterpillar. The baculovirus-insect system provides an excellent platform to study parasitic manipulation of insect host behaviour. It allows the comparative analysis between wildtype viruses and single gene knock-out mutants. I will present our work on unravelling how baculoviruses can manipulate caterpillar behaviour, including details on viral invasion of the insect CNS.
Jente Ottenburghs
Jente Ottenburghs earned his PhD at Wageningen University, where he conducted research on the evolution of geese. After two postdoc positions in Sweden (at the Karolinska Institute and at Uppsala University), he now works as a lecturer in ecology at Wageningen University. Apart from teaching various courses and supervising students, he explores the ecological and evolutionary consequences of hybridization in birds.
Ghost introgression: Spooky gene flow in the distant past.
Over 99.9% of all species that ever lived are extinct. But that does not mean that these species are lost forever. Some of them live on in the genomes of other species, including our own. Numerous studies have reported ancient or contemporary gene flow (i.e. introgression) between present-day lineages. In some cases, introgression from an extinct lineage could even be uncovered by sequencing ancient DNA from fossils, a phenomenon known as ghost introgression. In his lecture, Jente will provide an overview of this spooky process across the Tree of Life.
Christopher French
Christopher French is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. His most recent book is The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal (MIT Press, 2024).
The Terror That Comes in The Night: Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a fairly common sleep-related anomaly. In its most basic form, it is simply a temporary period of paralysis that is experienced as one is drifting off to sleep or emerging from it. It is slightly disconcerting but nothing more. However, it can be associated with a range of additional symptoms that can turn it into an altogether more terrifying experience. These include a strong sense of a malign presence, hallucinations, and difficulty breathing. Not surprisingly, such experiences are often interpreted as being paranormal in nature. This talk will present a number of first-hand accounts of sleep paralysis as well as the scientific explanation for the bizarre phenomenon.
