RNA and the Etiology of Disease

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Partial support is requested for an EMBO-sponsored workshop on RNA and the Etiology of Disease. The major goals of this meeting are to help foster scientific exchange and stimulate further investigation into what is widely regarded as one of critical molecular components influencing human disease; namely RNA. When any one of several RNA processing steps such as splicing, export, stability, localization, or translation goes awry, diseases such as cancer, neural degeneration, myotonic dystrophy, Fragile-X, and many others can result. In addition, miRNAs and other small RNAs are now known to profoundly influence such maladies as cancer, metabolic disorders, and viral infection. On a larger level, the study of human disease, particularly as it relates to RNA molecular biology must include animal models such as mice, Drosophila, Xenopus, C. elegans, and cultured cells, among others, in addition to the examination of human tissue. Thus, this meeting seeks to use RNA as the common thread to examine human disease not through human cells and tissues exclusively, but through animal and cell culture models as well. The meeting will attract a wide variety of investigators who, while working on various diseases, have the common of interest of determining how RNA controls basic processes that mediate the disease state. The meeting theme will emphasize RNA and the origin of human disease, and will include students of RNA splicing, translation, destruction, transport, and of course miRNAs and other small RNAs. The meeting is cross-disciplinary in its approach, which is essential for combating human disease.