The proposed conference on Eukaryotic mRNA Processing will convene scientists studying various aspects of mRNA processing, transport, RNA interference, informatics and turn-over. Major advances have recently been made in these areas, and the proposed conference will be a timely event for discussing the latest unpublished results and exchanging ideas, thereby fostering new developments in this rapidly moving field. The proposed 2009 conference will be held on August 18-22 and is the seventh meeting of a conference that is held every other year at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The most recent meeting was held on August 22-26, 2007, and attracted 339 scientists internationally, who are actively investigating various aspects of messenger RNA maturation in eukaryotic cells, using genetic, biochemical, molecular, and cell biological approaches. As in the previous meetings, a major focus will be on nuclear events in mRNA maturation, particularly mRNA splicing and polyadenylation, but the scope will now be expanded to encompass both the impact of the history of an mRNA on its ultimate biological fate, the emerging fields of RNA interference and microRNA function as well as the application of informatics to the analysis of RNA processing. The meeting format will consist of eight plenary sessions and three poster sessions. The main topics covered will include: RNA transport and localization; Splicing mechanisms; 3' End maturation; The coupling of RNA processing to transcription; The regulation of alternative RNA processing patterns I and II; RNA decay and RNA surveillance; and Global and genome wide approaches to mRNA Processing analysis.
Broader impact. The conference will provide excellent opportunities for sharing latest developments in the field of mRNA processing and for building the professional networks that are essential to scientific success. Speakers in the plenary sessions will be selected on the basis of the submitted abstracts, which will encourage active participation by junior scientists. In addition, support will be provided for minority and graduate student scientists.
