Abstract & early booking deadlines: 10 May 2025
This event is organised in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry's Nucleic Acids Group.
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Watson and Crick first described the sequence and structural features of double-helical DNA nearly 60 years ago. Since then, a variety of alternative nucleic acid conformations have been shown to form through either the folding of a single-strand or the association of three, four, or many strands of nucleic acids.
The formation of these structures in biological DNA, such as triplexes and quadruplexes, has been shown to play a role in the regulation of gene expression and linked to cancer and other genetic disorders. In addition, the engineering of multistranded complexes by crossover strand exchange has been exploited for the bottom up self-assembly of nanoscale objects, lattices, and devices from synthetic oligonucleotides or DNA origami.
Molecular biology tools such as nanopore sensors, DNA sequencing, and AI-enabled prediction tools such as AlphaFold have created a powerful toolset for further exploring the biological role of such non-canonical DNA structures. Open-source software has been developed to aid with the engineering of DNA nanostructures and has been coupled with improvements in their characterisation by microscopy. Our understanding of the roles and applications of these molecules has improved in recent years there is still much to discover.
This meeting will aim to bring together researchers within the fields of biochemistry, genome biology, biotechnology, biophysics, and molecular biology with a specific interest in the study of alternative multistranded nucleic structures.
This will enable a discussion of the current state of the art, development of novel ideas and research collaborations, and a sharing of ideas to help further develop the field towards addressing some of the most important questions in biology today.
Research talks will be organised into the three main themes:
1) Triplex structures
2) Quadruplex structures
3) Applications for multistrand structures (e.g., DNA origami, junctions, biosensors, etc.)
Invited speakers:
- Prof. Yiliang Ding, John Innes Centre, UK
- Prof. Kurt Gothelf, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Prof. Stefan Howorka, UCL, UK
Oral communication slots are available at this meeting. All attendees, particularly researchers in the early stages of their career, are invited to submit a poster abstract for consideration as an oral communication. You can submit your abstract here.
Event sponsored by:
Sponsorship opportunities are available for this meeting. For more details and to find out how you can get involved, please contact Hannah Atkins, Sponsorship Manager.
Biochemical Society Bursaries
We offer a wide variety of grants and bursaries to help you attend this event and save money on registration fees! Support is available to cover registration, accessibility, companion costs and more.
Apply for a General Travel Grant or during the registration process for any of the following schemes:
Not a member of the Biochemical Society? Join today and save at least £110 on your registration fee.
Royal Society of Chemistry travel grants
Members of the Royal Society of Chemistry Nucleic Acids Group may also able to apply for a travel bursary of up to £150 to attend the meeting. Application deadlines apply. Full details can be found here (links to external website).
