WORKSHOP ON
“NON CODING RNA’
held on NOVEMBER 7, 2009
The workshop on “non coding RNA” was held in the auditorium of the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University as part of the UGC Resource Network program of the School. Non coding RNAs have changed the basic dogma of molecular biology in terms of giving newer ways by which regulation of gene expression is achieved. In last one decade it has become apparent that the regulatory mechanisms mediated through non coding RNAs are wide spread encompassing a large fraction of cellular and physiological processes and also involve different biological systems from bacteria to man. In this workshop we various aspects of the field starting with long non coding RNA of Drosophila (Prof. S.C. Lakhotia, BHU). He gave a brief overview of the field and then described identification and functional characterization of the RNA encoded the 93Dn locus. Dr. Sunil Mukherjee (ICGEB) described biology of miRNAs, one of the small non coding RNA and showed how many of the plant virus’s use this system to circumvent host defense mechanisms. Non coding RNAs are also encoded by repetitive regions of rodent genomes (Dr. Pramod Rath, JNU). Dr. Rath also covered different features of these RNAs and elaborated on the functions. Dr. Beena Pillai (IGIB, Delhi) showed how some of the non coding RNAs, such as miRNA may be involved in diseases and profiling of these RNAs can be used for diagnosis and prognosis of human diseases. Generally non coding RNAs have been described in higher eukaryotes. However, Dr. Pawan Malhotra (ICGEB, Delhi) showed that these molecules may also be present in protist parasites, such as Plasmodium and may have important regulatory roles.
There were a few short presentations from students and junior scientists. While Dr. Ritu Kulshreshtha showed the importance of some of the miRNAs in hypoxia and cancers, Candida Vaz described computational approaches for small RNA discovery. Rashmi Mishra elaborated on the characteristics of a rat repeat associated non coding RNA.
The workshop was attended by about 300 students and teachers from colleges. The participants came from all India Institutions, from Tamilnadu to North-east. There was considerable amount of discussions held under informal atmosphere.