Joseph Banks and Colchicine | From the Gout to the Plant-Insect Arms Race

This is an in-person event only. There is no live stream.

(The talk will be followed by a book sale/signing and drinks reception in our historic library, where a paid bar will be available.)

Gout was common in Britain in the early nineteenth century, and untreatable until the arrival a new proprietary remedy from France named L’Eau Médicinale d’Housson (Housson’s Medicine Water). Dorian Haskard will discuss how Sir Joseph Banks was instrumental in determining the secret medicine to be a tincture of Colchicum Autumnale. The Colchicaceae family of plants, the isolation of colchicine and the molecular mechanisms of its action will then be explained.

By the end, you will have heard about the place of this remarkable compound, not just in medicine, but in botanical research, the genetic modification of plants and the evolutionary plant-insect arms race.

BIO

Dorian Haskard is Professor Emeritus of Cardiovascular Medicine and Rheumatology at Imperial College London and a Fellow of the Linnean Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the Academy of Medical Sciences. His recent book uses gout as a focus to address medical history from scientific, political and environmental perspectives. One of his particular interests is how compounds we have adopted for medicines are used by plants for their own ends in host defense.

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Concessions

Please buy the concession ticket if you are:

• 65 years of age, or over
• Under 26 years of age
• Currently in receipt of UK government benefit (including, but not limited to, Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit).
• Currently in full-time education.

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This is an in-person event at the Linnean Society of London on Piccadilly, London, only.

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