Prof. Seamus Martin has a long-standing interest in how and why cells die and how other cells in the body respond to the death of one of their neighbours. You might think that cells simply die by accident or due to old age, but there are many situations where cells actually commit suicide by activating a set of enzymes that coordinate their own death. This type of deliberate cell death (called apoptosis) is very important because it goes on in the body literally every minute of the day where it functions to protect us from the development of cancer and numerous other life-threatening conditions. In essence, when a cell becomes badly damaged, or acts abnormally in some way, apoptosis is used to rid the body of that errant cell. Seamus Martin is in no doubt that advances in our knowledge of how apoptosis is regulated will lead to new treatments for cancer, autoimmunity and other conditions where cell death control has become disrupted in some way. Working within The Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College, The Martin laboratory are one of the most highly cited labs in the world in this area and their work is funded by major and prestigious research grants from Science Foundation Ireland and the Wellcome Trust UK. Seamus Martin was also recently elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), a European-wide academy of scientists that includes 50 Nobel laureates, and is only the sixth Irish scientist to be elected to EMBO in its 45 year history.
Related Posts
27 NOV
Eureka in Éire
Picture this: a land where the rivers flow with wit and the skies are painted with creativity. Ireland is well known for the best whiskey...
21 NOV
From print to pixels: The Irish press revolution
As the Celtic Tiger roared into the new millennium, a quiet revolution was unfolding, one that would transform how the Emerald Isle...
16 NOV
Student digital (de)vices
If you take a peek at the Trinity News archives all the way back in the days of November 2013, you might stumble across a feature piece...
09 NOV
Synge, talking about relativity: 50 years on
It is an oft-cited aphorism that intelligence is best displayed in the process of aptly simplifying the complex for general understanding....
05 NOV
How to Write a Popular Science Book? In Conversation With Kevin Mitchell
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the closer you get to finishing your degree, the further you get to finishing that book that...