Exploring life’s blueprint: Gene expression in development and evolution

Kansas City, Missouri — home to world-class barbecue, legendary jazz and iconic fountains — will set the stage for the upcoming ASBMB meeting on gene expression research. This premier gathering will bring together leading scientists to explore the latest breakthroughs in molecular evolution, synthetic biology and artificial intelligence.

The meeting, to be held June 26-29, will focus on core life processes from a gene expression, developmental and evolutionary perspective. This year’s program introduces synthetic biology as a “bottom-up” approach to complement more traditional genetic “top-down” approaches in studying gene regulation and its evolution.

Julia Zeitlinger

ASBMB Today talked to the meeting’s organizers about hot topics in the gene expression field, why they chose an interdisciplinary approach, and what they hope attendees will get out of it.

Julia Zeitlinger is a professor and investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Her lab studies how stretches of DNA provide information for gene transcription, expression and regulation by developing computational tools for analyzing large quantities of genetic information.

David Arnosti is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University. His lab uses the genetics and molecular biology of Drosophila to test the importance of cis- and trans-acting regulators of transcription in a developmental setting.

Other co-organizers include Ingo Braasch, an associate professor of integrative biology at MSU, and Justin Fay, a professor of biology at the University of Rochester.

The interview has been edited for length, clarity and style.

David Arnosti

Introduce yourself and tell me about how you got interested in gene expression.

Arnosti: My laboratory’s research focuses on transcriptional regulatory elements in the context of development. We use Drosophila to uncover how tissue-specific enhancers function in development and the mechanism by which repressor proteins, such as the cancer tumor suppressor retinoblastoma, act in different gene contexts. My graduate training focused on the biochemistry of transcription; we now apply developmental, computational, and evolutionary perspectives to this fundamental process.

Zeitlinger: My interest is in understanding the general principles of gene regulation and how we can read the DNA sequences that instruct gene expression programs. Recently, we’ve adopted artificial intelligence tools to directly learn the relationship between genome sequence and gene regulation. AI is a great way for detecting complex patterns in DNA and making predictions for how specific DNA sequences will behave in experiments.

What is the history of this meeting and how will this year be different?

Arnosti: My interest in the meeting really stems from my earliest interactions with colleagues here on campus who work in evolutionary biology. I thought it would be very stimulating to bring together molecular-focused people and those who have broader evolutionary perspectives.

Our first meeting (on gene expression) was in 2013 at the University of Chicago, which featured a large community of people involved in evolution and molecular development studies. We reached out to ASBMB because I'd been so impressed with the ASBMB-sponsored small meetings I'd attended previously as well as with ASBMB’s professionalism.

This is the sixth iteration of the meeting. This year we've brought on board another co-organizer from Michigan State University, Ingo Braasch, whose research focuses on genomics and evolution. We have a very good lineup of speakers covering a variety of topics. We have a diverse and talented lineup of speakers covering a variety of topics, coming from North America and Europe. As for the location in Kansas City, we want people to experience one of the Midwest’s premier science centers in the heart of a vibrant urban community.

Zeitlinger: I'm very open minded and I love new things … and that's also why I love this ever-evolving conference. It has a very broad theme, and we keep adjusting the conference to current technology and trends in the field. This year, we will see more bottom-up synthetic biology approaches. With AlphaFold and other AI approaches now becoming more common, there is an opportunity to design things and test the principles of gene regulation in a more bottom-up way. Synthetic biology is a good fusion between gene regulation, evolutionary biology and AI.

Who should attend this meeting?

Zeitlinger: Anybody who is curious and wants to understand the general principles of gene expression should attend. It’s also great for anyone who wants to learn beyond their own field and is looking for good discussions and some new inspiration. Our conference goes beyond the talks; the real draw is often meeting other people with whom you can discuss ideas. Because people come from different fields, this is usually super interesting. It's not too big of a meeting, so you won't get lost. Young people can talk directly with the speakers, whether they are junior or senior faculty. We always look for young people who have new ideas.

We will be selecting talks from abstracts, and we are looking for students and postdocs because the invited speakers are all faculty. We also encourage everybody to present a poster. There is a lot of opportunity for discussion, and the poster sessions are a big part of that.

Arnosti: I think our interdisciplinary approach is a major attraction. All of us have our set meetings that we always go to, where we always see the same colleagues and catch up over the course of a year, but this meeting is different. Here, you will meet researchers from all different areas and institutions that you don't normally see at your usual conferences, which can be very exciting and stimulating.

The ASBMB conference on evolution and core processes in gene expression will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, a culture capital of the Midwest featuring world-class art, hearty barbeque and cool jazz.

We think it's very important that all students and trainees are encouraged to attend. I also encourage that our attendees become members of ASBMB if they are not members already. We will have a table at the meeting to sign up on site and tap into the benefits of an ASBMB membership.

Why is Kansas City a great place to visit?

Zeitlinger: The conference is being held at the Stowers Institute in Kansas City for the second time. It's a beautiful location. A lot of people have never been to the Midwest, and I think it’s a great place to see this part of the country. If you are interested in art, there's plenty to do, including the Nelson–Atkins Museum of Art, which is within walking distance of the Stowers Institute. Kansas City is also known for its great barbeque.

How’s it been working together?

Zeitlinger: I think we work well together. We understand and complement each other. We develop our ideas together, pick the speakers together and leverage our strengths from our respective fields to make this a really interesting meeting.

Arnosti: I completely agree.

Register here by May 7 to receive a discounted rate!