Reflections from ESBOC
30 May 2011
Last week saw the 45th European Symposium on Biological and Organic Chemistry (ESBOC) on the subject of The Chemistry and Function of Nucleic Acids (held 20-22 May in Gregynog, Wales). These symposia (formerly the Gregynog Natural Products Symposia) were initiated by Professor Cedric Hassall in 1967 and have been held each year since then. Their object is to promote communication between research workers who study the chemistry of the products and processes of life. The Symposium is held in a large country house, Gregynog, donated by the late Miss Margaret Davies to the University of Wales. Our Managing Director, Dr Mike Gray, was in attendance this year and has shares his reflections on the meeting below.
"Gregynog Hall is an amazing place - not as old as it looks at some 150 years, but set in stunning gardens and surrounded by the gentle Powys landscape. No mobile signal either!
"Inside the conference, the science was just as good. The power of modern X-ray crystallography and associated computer modelling superbly illustrated the tertiary structure of nucleic acids and proteins alike, along with precise molecular orientation at sites of interest - a far cry from the cutting-edge stick & ball models available at the time of my research career! I still don't pretend to understand all the subtleties of pi-stacking and G-quadruplexes, but the enthusiasm of the lecturers (and audience) for their subject was infectious.
"Impressive though the graphics are, they can only display the results of huge amounts of careful work. Behind the images we were given a tantalising glimpse of the elegant and painstaking chemistry carried out by a small army of collaborators and co-workers. All credit to those at the coal-face. And thanks to the organisers for pulling together an excellent programme - if nothing else, it was apparent how far & fast the chemistry of nucleic acids has progressed since the advent of the double helix."
Below is a list of the talks given, with links to researchers' web pages where available:
Eric Westhof (Strasbourg), "Sequence-based detection of structural modules for RNA architecture".
Michal Hocek (Prague), "Base-modified dNTPs and polymerase synthesis of functionalised DNA for diagnostics and bioconjugations".
Eugen Stulz (Southampton), "Modified DNA in nano-biotechnology".
Yamuna Krishman (Bangalore), "DNA devices in living systems".
Tom Brown (Southampton), "Synthesis and biocompatibility of DNA and RNA containing artifcial click backbone linkages".
Laurence Hurley (Arizona), "Drug targetting of G-quadruplexes and I-motifs in the c-MYC and Bcl-2 promoters".
Andreas Marx (Konstanz), "Lost in replication: DNA polymerases encountering aberrant substrates".
Stephen Neidle (London School of Pharmacy), "Quadruplex nucleic acid structures: what are they telling us?".
David Lilley (Dundee), "Structure, folding and protein binding by k-turn RNA".
Eric Tippmann (Cardiff), "Orthogonal tRNA/aminoacyl tRNA synthetases in expanded genetic codes".
Michael Webb (Leeds), "Purine biosynthesis inhibitors - not just for cancer chemotherapy".
Neil Dixon (Manchester), "Multi-component riboswitch-based tools for orthogonal genetic regulation".
Jeremy Sanders (Cambridge), "Adventures in molecular recognition".
Raphael Rodriguez (Cambridge), "The small molecule approach to targetting G-quadruplex DNA".
Richard Cosstick (Liverpool), "Investigating nitration-damaged DNA".
Thomas Carell (Munich), "The chemistry of genome maintenance".
Glenn Burley (Strathclyde), "Unravelling the alternative RNA splicing labyrinth with bifunctional olilgonucleotides".
Jane Grasby (Sheffield), "Flipping FEN".
Tags: Conferences
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