EMBO Conference: Protein Synthesis and Translational Control

Translational control is a major focus of attention that extends to many fields, including developmental biology, neurobiology, cell physiology, disease, synthetic and systems biology, etc. In addition to translation of messenger RNA, the conference will feature advances in the field of non-coding RNAs, both small (miRNA) and large (lncRNA), that influence the translation process and its machinery. Novel, powerful high-throughput technologies and structural advances will also be central, as they are pushing the field forward in manners that were unthinkable only few years ago, and are helping to create a “systems” view of translation.

With the increasing appreciation of the integration between different steps of gene expression, the conference will explore the connections between translation, mRNA turnover, nonsense-mediated decay, RNA localisation, and nuclear events such as transcription and splicing. Finally, many alternatives to the classical “one message makes one protein” concept are being unraveled which increase the potential for regulation. These alternatives will be featured, as well as the role of translational regulation in diseases as diverse as cancer, neurological disorders or infectious diseases.