Frontiers in Science lecture series resumes with talk on "SQUID" cancer detection technique

Contact: Shelley Thompson, sthompson@lanl.gov, (505) 665-7778 (02-108)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 27, 2002 -- The Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory kicks off its second Frontiers in Science Public Lecture Series on Oct. 2 with a talk titled "Measuring Small Magnetic Fields in Living Systems: From Understanding the Brain to the Detection of Cancer." This talk will be given by Michelle Espy of Los Alamos' Biophysics Group.

Espy will discuss SQUIDS, or superconducting quantum interference devices, that detect tiny magnetic fields of biological origin and a technique known as magnetoencephalography, or MEG, that sheds light on the location and timing of brain function. She also will present a novel technique for cancer detection, and possibly treatment, that involves labeling cancer cells with small magnetic beads.

The public lecture series is intended to inform the neighboring communities about the broad range of scientific and engineering research being conducted at the Laboratory.

Sponsored by the Laboratory Fellows and presented by Laboratory scientists, five lectures a year are planned. Each lecture will be presented in Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Española and Taos to ensure that Northern New Mexico residents can attend. All lectures are free and scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

"We want to make people aware that the Lab researches global warming, AIDS, astrophysics, biophysics, materials, nuclear and particle physics and a number of important scientific and engineering issues facing the world," said Joseph Ginocchio of Los Alamos' Nuclear Physics Group, coordinator of the lecture series and Laboratory Fellow.

On Oct. 2, Espy will discuss her work on SQUIDS and MEG at the Center for the Arts Theater at Northern New Mexico Community College in Española. She will repeat her discussion on Wednesday, Oct. 9, in the James A. Little Theater at the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe, on Thursday, Oct. 10, in the Duane W. Smith Auditorium at Los Alamos High School and Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Taos Convention Center.

Many biological processes, such as the activity of neurons in the brain, inherently produce tiny but detectable magnetic fields. It also is possible to "label" certain kinds of biological processes magnetically. Measuring these magnetic fields can provide information about the location and/or timing of the process under study, including cancer.

In the Biophysics Group at Los Alamos, Espy and colleagues use the small passive detectors called SQUIDs, to detect these magnetic fields. The SQUID is the most sensitive detector of magnetic fields known, capable of measuring magnetic fields one million times smaller than that of the earth.

Espy, a 6-year employee with the Laboratory, completed her undergraduate work at the University of California, Riverside and finished graduate school with a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Minnesota.

The public lecture series continues in November when Geoffrey West of Los Alamos' Elementary Particles and Field Theory Group presents "The Complexity, Simplicity, and Unity of Living Systems."

West's talks are at the same locations on Nov. 13 in Santa Fe, Nov. 14 in Taos, Nov. 20 in Espanola and Nov. 21 in Los Alamos.

For more information visit the public lecture series Web site at http://stb.lanl.gov/fellows/fellows.html online. Directions to the lecture locations also are available on the Web site.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.