ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled “3D Genome: Gene Regulation and Disease”,
organized by Drs. Bing Ren, Ana Pombo and Joseph R. Ecker. The conference will be held in Banff, Alberta
from March 17-21, 2019.
Transcription of the eukaryotic genome is not only driven by the cis regulatory elements embedded in the linear
DNA sequence but also by the way chromosomes fold in the three-dimensional (3D) nuclear space. Growing
evidence has pointed to a key role of the 3D genome architecture in gene regulation and human disease.
However, the details of dynamic chromatin organization in different cell types remain opaque. Additionally, how
chromatin organization shapes the gene regulatory program and influences disease pathogenesis has not been
fully elucidated. The major objective of this conference is to accelerate the study of 3D genome organization
particularly with regard to gene regulation and human disease. The conference program will highlight recent
technological advances, such as omics-based and imaging-based technologies. The conference will also
discuss emerging concepts of chromatin organization and its role in cancer and other human diseases. Finally,
the conference program will provide workshops and tutorials on the latest computational tools and data resources
for 3D genome analysis. Because epigenetic processes such as chromatin remodeling and DNA methylation
are intimately linked to the 3D genome architecture, this conference will be held jointly with the Keystone
Symposia conference on “Epigenetics and Human Disease”, further enhancing the goal to stimulate cross
disciplinary interactions among researchers from genomics, epigenomics, computational biology, cell biology
and molecular biology fields.