XXI IRT Event Aims
More than 40 years after the 1st International Roundtable of Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids conference which was held in Montpellier in 1972.
Nucleic acids are fundamental to life and as soon as J.D. Watson and F.H.C Crick deduced DNA´s structure 60 years ago, thoughts of many chemists and biologists switched not only to DNA but also RNA. The next milestone which 50th anniversary will be celebrated in 2014 is H.G. Khorana’s and co-workers’ achievements in a chemical synthesis of RNA triplets as the foundation to genetic code ‘cracking’. Nowadays in the era of whole genome science chemical biology prompts scientists to understanding biochemical and biological properties of nucleic acids. Only 2% of human genome is accounted for by protein-coding genes but more than 90%, called up to now “junk DNA”, is a rich source of non-coding transcripts that participate in most of the major cellular processes and are crucial for the maintenance of cell health. RNA has become a focus of investigations into novel therapeutic schemes. Ribozymes, antisense RNAs, RNA decoys, aptamers, microRNA and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have been used to down regulate undesired gene expression. Multiple challenges, such as optimization of selectivity, stability, delivery and long term safety, have to be addressed in order for RNA drugs to become a successful therapeutic category. RNA many facets are more and more understood and now it is possible to design and use various RNAs as valuable tools in molecular biology and medicine. This knowledge is required for diagnosis, design and development of drugs and new therapeutics for fighting cancers, virus and other diseases at the nucleic acids level.
We are delighted to be hosting the XXI IRT for the first time in the beautiful
city of Poznan. The previous 20 international roundtables in this series have proved popular with academia and industry alike, and have attracted in excess of 400 attendees in recent years. This independent Roundtable is organised under the auspices of the International Society of Nucleosides Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (
IS3NA).
The XXI IRT commences with an evening reception on Sunday, August 24th at the Conference venue (
Conference Centre of Poznan University of Technology) and features a memorable evening picnic on Wednesday, August 27th at the Malta Lake. We will also have a strong and varied program of plenary sessions and contributed lectures. As in past International Roundtables (IRTs), poster presentations will form an important part of the scientific program, and will be displayed all week and featured in two early evening sessions (Monday, August 25th and Tuesday August 26th).
We will have a dynamic and engaging program with varied cutting edge research in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology and chemical biology, as well as synthetic and therapeutic applications of nucleosides and oligonucleotides.
Plenary lectures will be given by internationally recognized scientists, and the Montgomery and Imbach-Townsend Awardees.
We are confident that the IRT will be a stimulating and exciting meeting in the tradition of past IRT conferences. You will find the IRT to be conducive to scientific exchange and the city of Poznan to be an enjoyable, vibrant and stimulating location. Your participation in the conference is essential to the success of the event!
This will be a good occasion and a starting point for those of who will be visiting Poland for the first time, to see more of
Poznan and Poland afterwards.
We look forward to seeing you in Poznan in 2014.
Wojciech T. Markiewicz (Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences)
Henryk Koroniak (Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University)
