Professor Mikhail Gelfand, who heads the center, took part in the OpenBio Russian Forum of Biotechnology, Virology, Biopharmaceutics, and Related Industries in the Koltsovo science city (Novosibirsk Region). At the round table on cases of AI introduction in biotech, the participants discussed how AI is used to regulate gene expression. Mikhail presented the scientific results of the center’s teams and shared his expertise with colleagues.

Associate Professor Dmitry Pervushin visited Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China), where he held a seminar with students and presented projects supported by the joint grant on the secondary structure of RNA as a regulator of alternative splicing and a drug target. Dmitry also discussed an application for a joint research project of the governments of China and Russia with professors of the Faculty of Biochemistry. Dmitry and his colleagues from China agreed that the new project will be devoted to the editing and modification of RNA, as well as their connection with human diseases.

In Beijing, the capital of China, Research Intern Lev Zavileisky presented a poster presentation at the “Cellular Symposia: Functional RNAs” international conference. Lev focused on scientific results on the tumor-specific regulation of unproductive splicing. Many aspects of RNA biology were discussed at the conference, including the functions and processing of coding and non-coding RNAs, post-transcriptional regulation, as well as new tools for analyzing RNA functions.

At the sixth Postgenom 2024 International Conference in the Moscow region, Professor Peter Sergiev made a plenary report on the methylation of small nuclear RNAs and its role in splicing, Assistant Professor Dmitry Ivankov in his presentation spoke about Alfafold’s success and its relation to the understanding of the protein folding physics. Assistant Professor Artem Isaev, who heads the Laboratory of Metagenome Analysis, presented the systems of antiviral abortive immunity of bacteria. PhD student Polina Strelnikova from the Life Sciences program took part in a competition for young scientists at a conference with a joint paper on the targeted analysis of plasma proteins in frozen whole blood samples of patients with COVID-19. PhD student Anastasia Bolikhova from the Life Sciences program gave a poster presentation.

Research Scientist Lidia Putlyaeva shared her research results at the sixth National Congress on Regenerative Medicine in St. Petersburg. Lidia spoke about the lifetime sensors of the epigenetic landscape as a new tool for searching for functional subpopulations of cells and received a letter of appreciation from the organizing committee for a brilliant oral presentation.

At DNA Saturday at Skoltech, Associate Professor Ekaterina Khrameeva spoke about how regulators allow genes to create cells specific to an organ, and how a two-meter DNA molecule is packaged in a complex way into compact structures. After the lecture, the guests had the opportunity to conduct an experiment on extracting banana DNA under the guidance of Associate Professor of the Practice Vera Rybko, who is the deputy director for the center’s development. More than 340 enthusiasts gathered at the event.

The Laboratory of Metagenome Analysis organized the third Conference on Genomics, Metagenomics, and Molecular Biology of Microorganisms for students and scientists specializing in the field of genomics, metagenomics, and molecular biology of microorganisms. The opening lecture on the comparative genomics of bacteria was delivered by the director of the center Professor Mikhail Gelfand. Senior Research Scientist Maria Tutukina gave a lecture titled on antisense transcription in bacteria. Scientists from Skoltech and other research organizations made oral and poster presentations. The conference aimed at sharing knowledge and experience, discussing the results of the latest scientific projects, and promoting cooperation between leading experts in the field of a wide range of topics related to genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry of microorganisms.

Anna Rybina, an alumna of the Life Sciences PhD program, was recognized at the best speaker at the Science Slam at Skoltech and won the regional Science Slam, which was held in Samara. Anna told how bioinformatics can be used to study bacteria that eat sulfoquinose — a derivative of glucose, which is very abundant, for example, in lettuce leaves. Anna also took part in the finals, which took place at the Congress of Young Scientists in Sirius.