"The great genetic similarity between flies and humans. Implications for human biology and disease", conference by Ginés Morata

Cinema and Science Series

Invited Scientists

Ginés Morata Pérez
Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

When

2026/02/12
18:00

Place

Z Hall, Tabakalera, Donostia / San Sebastián

Organizers

DIPC, Basque Film Archive, San Sebastián International Film Festival

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Ginés Morata, biologist and winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, will give the first of the lectures organized as part of the Film and Science series, in an event presented by Fernando Cossío, scientific director of Ikerbasque and winner of the Euskadi Research Award.

The development of genetics during the 20th century was the main driver of the current biological revolution, which is having an enormous social impact. A fundamental organism in the progress of genetics has been and continues to be the fruit fly Drosophila. For more than 100 years, thousands of scientists around the world have used this fly to investigate many biological processes and have developed extraordinarily sophisticated genetic technologies that allow experiments impossible in other species. In addition, the development of genomics has made it possible to directly compare the genetic similarity between different animal species. Comparisons between Drosophila and humans indicate that we share 65% genetic identity. The implication of this discovery is that many aspects of human genetics can be studied initially in flies. In my talk, I will discuss some of the most important developments in Drosophila and how the knowledge gained is helping to understand basic phenomena in biology and human disease.

The conference will be held in Spanish. Admission is free until full capacity is reached.

Ginés Morata will be the scientist presenting the film The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1987) in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Wednesday, February 11, and in Donostia/San Sebastián on Friday, February 13.