PRESS RELEASE
GRANADA, CAPITAL OF GENOMIC REGULATION DURING THE EURASNET CONFERENCE
From the 28th February until the 3rd March, Granada will play host to the II International Conference on Alternative Splicing, organised by the European Network for Excellence EURASNET. More than two hundred people will participate in the conference which will bring together the top international specialists in the field, including Nobel Prize winner Philip Sharp, various members of both the American Academy of Sciences and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). 
Juan Valcárcel, researcher from the Centre for Genomic Regulation, ICREA research professor and member of EURASNET, is one of the organisers of the conference to be held in Granada.
Although each cell of our organism has the same genome, each type of cell (neurone, skin or liver cell) must select those instructions from the genome which are relevant to its specific function (e.g., to transmit a nerve impulse, protect internal organs or digest food). Splicing is a regulatory mechanism which enables our cells to extract distinct instructions from the genome. The splicing process allows different readings of the messages in our genes and in this way enables the cells to carry out their specialised functions. 
Alterations in the splicing process lead to a huge diversity of illnesses, from spinal muscular atrophy to particular types of cancer. At the II International Conference on Alternative Splicing the most recent advances in the field will be presented, both at the level of basic splicing process mechanisms as well as pathological alterations and possible new therapeutics. 
The conference will have more than two hundred participants and will bring together the top specialists in the field among which will be:

• Philip A. Sharp, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This Nobel Prize winning researcher will give the keynote lecture. He is a reference point in molecular biology and biochemistry. In 1977 he discovered RNA splicing for which, in 1993, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 

• Benjamin Blencowe, from the University of Toronto 

• Matthias Mann, from the Max Plank Institute of Biochemistry

• Iain Mattaj, from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Professor Mattaj is the Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory as well as being recognised for his work on the spatial regulation of genes. 

• John Mattick, from the University of Queensland.

The EURASNET network has, over a period of five years, developed intense scientific activity and dissemination with the aim of integrating and communicating the efforts of hundreds of scientists throughout Europe, Israel and Argentina in order to understand the splicing process and its biomedical importance. 
In Spain, Juan Valcárcel, ICREA research professor, and scientist from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, is one of the event organisers. His research is focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of alternative splicing regulation. As organiser, he states that “it is vitally important to fully understand how cells are capable of selecting information to carry out their functions. When these mechanisms don’t work as they should, they lead to many human diseases which could be understood better thanks to knowledge of this mechanism.” “This symposium will be a great forum which will bring together the latest advances in alternative splicing and enable the experts to exchange opinions and find ways to collaborate to develop possible new therapeutics”, concludes Valcárcel. 
For further in formation about the conference: 

• Conference webpage 
• EURASNET 
• Centre for Genomic Regulation

For more information, to be accredited or to interview one of the speakers: Laia Cendrós, Dept. Communication and Public Relations, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88 – Edif. PRBB, 08003 Barcelona, Tel. 93 316 02 37.