International Symposium on "Spliceosome Kinetics, Catalysis, and Regulation" Held

An international symposium on “Spliceosome Kinetics, Catalysis, and Regulation” was held at Tsinghua University from April 21st-22nd, as one of the major celebration events in honor of Tsinghua's 105th anniversary.

The symposium was jointly organized by Reinhard Lührmann from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, member of the German National Academy of Sciences; Xiang-Dong Fu from the University of California San Diego and Hongwei Wang from Tsinghua University. The aim of the symposium is to promote RNA research and integration of RNA research institutes in international community by sharing recent advances made in understanding RNP machine, as well as by exploring the possibility of holding the RNA Society Meeting in China in the near future.

Many world-renowned scientists in RNA research and structural biology attended the symposium: Professor Thomas A. Steitz from Yale University, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009; Professor Joan A. Steitz, a member of National Academy of Sciences; Professor John Abelson, a member of National Academy of Sciences; Professor Christine Guthrie, a member of National Academy of Sciences; and Professor Yigong Shi, the vice president of Tsinghua University, as well as foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The symposium was hosted by the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology with support from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission. The symposium aims to become one of the leading international conferences for presenting scientific breakthroughs both in RNA research and structural biology. It also serves to foster communication among researchers and students in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology organizes international Symposiums on an annual basis to foster the exchange of ideas at the frontier of biological sciences. The Symposiums helps to promote collaborations and scientific discourse, and provide a platform for the cultivation of new talents in these fields for the future.