Cantoblanco Workshops on Biology

Molecular Mechanisms of Genomic Stability

Workshop organized by Juan C. Alonso, Daniel Camerini-Otero, John F. X. Diffley and Margarita Salas.

May, 11-13, 2009, Campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.

Every year an important number of scientific discoveries continuously increase our knowledge on the complexity of cell cycle checkpoints and the cellular machinery that sense and activate the cellular responses to prevent chromosome instability. This knowledge is of biomedical importance, due to the impact of genetic instability on carcinogenesis and the recurrent genetic instability phenotype observed in a number of cancers.

Among the different forms of DNA repair, recombination is a fundamental process in Biology that operates continually to shape and reshape the genomes of all organisms, to repair DNA damage, and to promote the segregation of chromosomes at cell division. It is also used widely as a tool, for genetic analysis of biological processes, to engineer new gene constructs, and to make transgenic organisms. A complete knowledge of the mechanisms involved in recombination is therefore important for many areas of basic biology, biotechnology and medicine.

The major aim of the Workshop will be to discuss: the dynamics of recombinational repair in mitosis and meiosis; the dynamic interconnection between recombinational repair and DNA replication; the different approaches of DNA repair;  the mechanisms of chromosome pairing; the role of sister chromatid cohesion in double-strand break repair; the role of replication in genetic stability as well as the molecular mechanisms of coordinating them during cell proliferation; and the relevance of these processes in the preservation of genomic integrity in both mitotic (somatic) and meiotic (germ-line) cells.

The aim of the Cantoblanco Workshops on Biology is promoting a creative interaction between scientists involved in structural, cytological, topological, molecular and biochemical aspects of the DNA break repair processes and its impact in the origin of cancer and genetic diseases and in evolution.

Invited Speakers:

Juan Alonso Andres Aguilera Luis Blanco María Blasco Dan Camerini-Otero Mike Cox John Diffley Aidan Doherty Marco Foiani Robert Fuchs Nancy Hollingsworth Uli Hübscher

Scott Keeney Nancy Kleckner Steve Kowalczykowski Tom Kunkel Karim Labib Michael Lichten John Petrini Rodney Rothstein Margarita Salas María L. Salas Akira Shinohara Patrick Sung

A short CV, an abstract and a brief statement on current research interests must be submitted by April 1, 2009 to http://www.cbm.uam.es/genomicstability/registration . Some posters may be selected for presentations as short talks. No registration fee required. A few fellowships will be available to help cover accommodation expenses and must be indicated in the application.

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