BioTechniques Virtual Symposium: The Cell Landscape

[Andrew Wiecek]

BioTechniques Virtual Symposium: The Cell Landscape, from Genotype to Phenotype

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

FREE Registration Open Now: http://is.gd/HS1bt7

Symposium Overview:

In recent years, new methods and techniques aimed at deciphering the inner workings of cells have provided unique insights, and changed the way we think about, as well as approach, modern cell biology research. With these advances in mind, the 2012 BioTechniques Virtual Symposium will focus directly on the latest approaches being used to characterize cell function and phenotype. From the genetic mechanisms controlling basic cellular processes to understanding how protein production and interactions shape cell structure and function – this one-day symposium will highlight techniques for teasing apart the genetic, proteomic, and metabolite landscapes of the cell.

The symposium features:

Sessions on the latest advances in cell sorting, genomics, proteomics, and cell analysis
Networking opportunities with speakers, attendees, and sponsors
Live Q&A sessions with all presenters
Virtual exhibit hall, poster hall, and job listings

Session and Topics:

Session 1: Starting Materials: Novel Approaches to Cell Sorting and Isolation

When working with mixtures of cells, or complex samples, it is often necessary to isolate specific subsets of cells or even single cells for downstream assays. The tools required to identify and obtain such specific cell samples have been evolving in recent years, with new microfluidic, flow cytometry, and laser capture microdissection approaches being described. In this session, viewers will have the opportunity to learn more about the latest approaches to cell sorting and isolation, and how these techniques are enabling novel downstream cell analysis applications.

Keynote: Stephen Quake, PhD. Professor of Bioengineering and Co-Chair Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Quake will discuss advances in cell sorting applications, with an eye on microfluidic-based cell sorting devices.

Speaker: Nancy Allbritton, MD., PhD. Debreczeny Distinguished Professor and Chair of University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University Department of Biomedical Engineering; Director, Curriculum of Applied Science and Engineering.

Dr. Allbritton will discuss her work on the selection and sorting of viable cells using cell-lethal assays on microarrays.

Speaker: Bart Smits, PhD. Assistant Scientist, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Smits will discuss his recent work employing multi-color flow cytometry to phenotype cancer cells and identify breast cancer susceptibility genes.

Session 2: Our Cellular Blueprint: Examining the Impact of Nucleic Acids on Cell Phenotype

Understanding the role of DNA and RNA is critical in understanding cellular, and organismal, phenotypes. During this session, viewers will hear about the latest techniques and methodologies aimed at understanding how the production of DNA and RNA influence cell phenotype. From a discussion of the level of genetic variation in the human population to understanding RNA localization and regulation in cells, this session will provide insights into the impact of genomes, and their regulation, on cell function.

Keynote: Daniel Larson, PhD. Head, Systems Biology of Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Larson will detail his work on the regulation and function of RNA in cells using multiphoton microscopy and RNA visualization and the effect on cellular phenotype.

Speaker: Richard Cotton, PhD., D.Sci. Director, Genomics Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia; Scientific Director of the Human Variome Project.

Dr. Cotton will introduce and describe the efforts of the Human Variome project; an international initiative to catalogue human genetic variation (CNV, SNP).

Speaker: Piero Carninci, PhD. Leader of the Functional Genomics Technology Team, Leader of the Omics Resource Development Unit and Deputy Project Director of the LSA Technology Development Group - LSA Technology Development Group, Riken Omics Science Center, Japan.

Dr. Carninci will discuss the latest developments in the genetic analysis of transcription in single, or small numbers of, cells.

Session 3: Movers & Shakers: Understanding the Role of Protein Localization and Function in Cell Biology

The proteome entails a vast array of gene-encoded proteins, their modifications, and interactions. Interestingly, recent studies have pointed to protein fluctuations within individual cells. In this session, attendees will learn more about the relationship between protein expression and cell phenotype, as well as some of the latest tools being used to study proteomics in small sets of cells or single cells.

Keynote: David Klug, PhD. Professor of Chemical Biophysics, Co-founder and Chair of the Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College, London.

Dr. Klug will discuss his leadership of the Single Cell Proteomics Project and his own research efforts into single cell proteomics.

Speaker: Anup Singh, PhD. Scientist, Biosystems Research Department, Sandia National Laboratory.

Dr. Singh will discuss his work using microfluidic approaches to explore protein networks and signaling in cells.

Session 4: Frontiers in Cell Analysis: Making Use of the Lessons and Insights from the Lab

In this session, three speakers will highlight the unique biological insight that have been obtained through the use of methods and techniques aimed at understanding the cellular metabolome, the human microbiome, and in vivo stem cell biology, placing the data in the context of the genotype/phenotype relationship.

Keynote: Gary Siuzdak, PhD. Senior Director Center for Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry; Professor Chemistry and Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute.

Dr. Siuzdak will describe his latest research into the field of metabolomics using mass spectrometry approaches.

Speaker: Mark Adams, PhD. Scientific Director, J. Craig Venter Institute.

Dr. Adams will detail his involvement in the human microbiome project and the impact next-generation sequencing and single cell analysis are having on metagenomics projects

Speaker: Joseph Wu. MD, PhD. Associate Professor, Stanford University Medical School.

Dr. Wu will describe various molecular imaging approaches to track adult and embryonic stem cells.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

FREE Registration Open Now: http://is.gd/HS1bt7