Roles of RNA and DNA Editing and Modification in Cellular Function

The 2009 Gordon Research Conference on RNA Editing brings together scientists interested on RNA and DNA editing, as well as a large contingent of scientists working on DNA and RNA modification. This conference has been held for over 10 years and is the only regularly scheduled meeting devoted to these topics. The goal of the conference is to foster the exchange of ideas among individuals working on different types of nucleic acid editing and modification who are at the forefront of this exciting, fast-moving and diverse field with the hope of promoting new insights and deeper understanding of editing and modification mechanisms.

Editing is found in all organisms, including bacteria, protozoans, plants, yeast, flies and mammals. Mechanistically, there are many diverse types of editing that alter the sequence of RNA or DNA. In the case of modifications, their variety and extent are quite astonishing, with almost 100 different nucleosides reported in all types of nucleic acids. Both Editing and Modification influence many vital processes including genetic imprinting, splicing, protein synthesis, immunoglobulin class switch recombination, somatic hypermutation, cancer virus replication and control of miRNA. It is now clear that scientists investigating these diverse processes face many of the same theoretical and technical challenges. Thus, there is an ever-increasing need for cross-fertilization between these fields. The GRC on RNA Editing represents a unique opportunity for members of these fields to interact at a single conference that is at the cutting edge of science.

All participants are encouraged to present posters. To promote junior scientists, the organizers will choose among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or junior faculty from the submitted poster abstracts to give short talks. As is our tradition, we will strive to provide a gender balanced and an ethnically and geographically diverse group of speakers in a congenial and friendly environment.