SANTA FE, N.M., March 03, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NM-INBRE) and the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced today that they will host the 10th annual New Mexico Bioinformatics, Science and Technology (NMBIST) symposium on March 26 - 27, 2015 at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, NM. The theme of the symposium will be "Transcriptional Control".

Transcriptional control involves several levels of regulation in an organism.  Both eukaryotes and prokaryotes employ strategies to control expression of their genes.  These include transcription factors, a group of proteins that control which genes are turned on or off, and manage a multitude of cellular processes.  Other mechanisms include RNA splicing, small RNAs, DNA methylation and chromatin modifications, which enable an organism to elicit appropriate responses to environmental cues.  Our keynote speaker for this year, Dr. Hertel, will address detecting alternative splicing behaviors and their implications in human diseases such as cancer.  Other accomplished researchers will address effects of gene expression in Pseudomonas, a pathogenic bacterium associated with cystic fibrosis (Dr. Franklin); implications of small RNA mediated regulation on bacterial physiology and pathogenesis (Dr. Vanderpool); and antiviral effects of RNA interference in plants and animals (Dr. Ding).  Dr. Udall will discuss gene regulation and expression in plants and Drs. Schroeder, Libault and Dukowic-Schulze will discuss transcriptional control implications for plant pathogenesis and stress responses.  Special guest speaker Dr. Brockman from Hill's Pet Nutrition will explain translational genomics approaches to improve the health of companion animals.

The goal of the conference is to provide an event in the southwest region to update, educate and advocate the latest developments at the intersection of bioscience, technology, mathematics, and software development.  The event also offers students the opportunity to present their research at a poster session and receive free admission.  Students may also compete for a student speaking-slot in the plenary session. Winners receive free lodging.

Major funding is provided by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Other sponsors include Agilent Technologies, BioNano Genomics, Covaris, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), Illumina, and Pacific Biosciences. For more details and to register, visit www.nminbre.org.

About NCGR: NCGR is a nonprofit research institute that applies bioinformatics, software engineering and next-generation sequencing to solve the preeminent challenges of 21st century biology through collaborative research and services. To learn more about NCGR, please visit www.ncgr.org.

About the New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence: The objective of NM-INBRE is to increase collaborative, multidisciplinary biomedical research at New Mexico's institutions of higher education and expand the pool of biological and biomedical researchers in New Mexico. For more information, please visit www.nminbre.org.

 

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nm-inbre-and-ncgr-hosts-symposium-on-transcriptional-control-300044971.html

SOURCE NCGR

Copyright 2015 PR Newswire