UCSF Hosts Tomkins Concert & Lecture Today

Sean B. Carroll, PhD, professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin, will deliver a lecture titled "The Making of the Fittest" as part of the Tomkins Concert & Lecture today (Oct. 20). The event is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. in Byers Auditorium in Genentech Hall at the UCSF Mission Bay campus. Carroll's research has centered on those genes that control body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. Author of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Fittest, Carroll has brought a powerful new perspective to the public debate over evolution vs. creationism. The lecture will be preceded by the musical portion of the program performed by Scott St. John on violin, Leslie Tomkins on viola, Tanya Tomkins on cello and Eric Zivian on piano. A reception will follow in the atrium at Genentech Hall after the lecture. The event is named in honor of Gordon Tomkins, a visionary professor of biochemistry. Tomkins came to UCSF from the National Institutes of Health in 1969 and died unexpectedly in 1975. He inspired scores of scientists and students, including several who now are senior UCSF faculty members. Tomkins also was an accomplished classical and jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He is remembered each year with a concert in addition to a lecture.