NCGR Hosts Symposium on Genome Dynamics

SANTA FE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced today that it will host the ninth annual New Mexico Bioinformatics, Science and Technology (NMBIST) symposium on March 21-22, 2013 on “Genome Dynamics.” Genome dynamics has been the focus of much recent research even though for some time we have known that genomes are not static. Barbara McClintock's work, beginning in the 1920s, described recombination during meiosis and transposable elements as genes that jumped spontaneously from one site to another, interrupting gene function and genome structures. Genetic material may also get duplicated, combined or modified and effect whole chromosomes and entire genomes. The conference features a diverse line up of speakers who will address the mechanisms and effects of genome dynamics including the variation within the human population, genomic structural rearrangements, mutation rates, epigenetics, and mechanisms of transcriptional regulation. Speakers include:

• Keynote, Vanessa Hayes, PhD, J. Craig Venter Institute, San Diego, CA
• Ricardo Martí-Arbona, PhD, Los Alamos National Lab, Los Alamos, NM
• Brad Goodner, PhD, Hiram College, Hiram, OH
• Brian Gregory, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
• Ann Kirchmaier, PhD, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Kurt Lamour, PhD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
• Seth Frietze, PhD, Northern New Mexico College, Española, NM
• Amy Lossie, PhD, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Carmen Tellez, PhD, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM

The NMBIST symposium attracts over a hundred research scientists, university and college faculty and students, as well as high school students from the Southwest and beyond. The purpose of the symposium is to inform, educate and promote the latest developments at the intersection of bioscience, technology, mathematics and software development. In particular, the symposium offers students from research centers in minority-serving institutions a regional opportunity to present their research in a poster session and to compete for a student speaking slot in the plenary session.

The symposium will be held at the Inn and Spa of Loretto in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is organized by NCGR. Major funding is provided by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health through the New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NM-INBRE) program. Other sponsors include JMP Genomics, Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, Life Technologies, Bioo Scientific, and PerkinElmer. To find out more information and to register, visit www.nminbre.org/index.php/nmbist-2013-symposium-march-21-22.

About NCGR: NCGR is a nonprofit research institute whose mission is to improve human health and nutrition through genome sequencing and analysis. 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.