The FASEB 2010 meeting entitled """"""""Nucleic Acid Enzymes"""""""" will focus on the structures, mechanisms, biological roles, and medical relevance of enzymes that are composed of, and/or act on DNA and RNA. The meeting attracts a broad cross-disciplinary group of scientists with expertise in structural biology, biochemistry, and cell biology. This meeting will be the 8th sponsored by the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) in this area;the most recent was in 2008. The meeting provides a unique forum for discussion of enzymes that are composed of or act on nucleic acids, the central role of DNA and RNA enzymology in biotechnology, and the metabolic disorders and diseases in which nucleic acid enzymes are implicated. By gathering structural biologists, biochemists, chemists, cell biologists and clinicians-groups that often do not speak to each other-new interests, new insights and interdisciplinary collaboration are fostered. The Scientific Program will consist of nine sessions of oral presentations by distinguished invited speakers, junior faculty, and student poster talks in the following subject areas: (1, 2) Phosphodiester hydrolysis;(3) Phosphoryl transfer;(4, 5) Nucleic acid processing and modification;(6, 7) Motors, Machines and Translocation;(8) Polymerization reactions;and (9) Emerging Methods, Approaches, and Areas. Importantly, we will feature young investigators throughout the meeting, rather than in a single session as in the past;this will be done so that these investigators can receive full exposure to their more senior colleagues. The organizers have recruited leading investigators to serve as discussion leaders for these sessions. The Program will also include four poster sessions, from which outstanding posters from graduate students, post-doc, and other faculty attendees will be selected for short oral presentations. To foster a 'fresh'approach and significant intellectual turnover and renewal, the majority of invited speakers are new to the meeting, and a significant percentage are junior faculty and women in science. The FASEB 2010 meeting aims to have sessions that are broadly enough defined that PIs from different fields will interact in one session. We feel that this is the best means to catalyze fresh exchange of ideas among the attendees. For example, in most cases the biology of DNA and RNA enzymes are quite distinct;however, the tools and approaches are similar and therefore sessions that cross areas defined by the biology provide fertile ground for exchange of ideas. The intimate format of the conference will promote free exchange of information and ideas among researchers working on diverse aspects of RNA and DNA enzymes, thereby expediting research in both fields.
Enzymes that act on nucleic acids are indispensable components of basic research and biotechnology;they are also taking on prominent roles in medicine as the analysis and manipulation of DNA and RNA from patients is integrated into the diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and choice of therapy in human disease states, especially cancers. Aberrations of nucleic acid enzymology that result in the loss of fidelity in replication, repair, and transcription are linked directly to human carcinogenesis. RNA plays a central role in human disease through small RNAs, transcription, and translation fidelity and regulation.
