A brilliant representation of single particle Cryo EM

NAF 2019 was a brilliant meeting, organised by David Rueda, at the Royal Society of Chemistry. There were a series of brilliant talks, with highlights including: Erin Cutts, from the Vannini group (ICR) talking about her work with Condensin - Human condensin I and II drive extensive ATP–dependent compaction of nucleosome–bound DNA; Alexandra Moores, from the Kad lab, who is currently investigating the role of nucleotide excision repair in Escherichia coli using single molecule techniques; and Clément Charenton from the Nagai group with his incredible work on the Mechanism of 5ʹ splice site transfer for human spliceosome activation. We were also treated to a fantastic explanation of single particle averaging in CryoEM by Tom Dendooven of the Luisi lab, Cambridge.

Alice’s talk on supercoiling in DNA minicircles - ‘Untangling DNA, one molecule at a time’ - was well received, winning best DNA talk, and she was awarded a model of the structure of the BDNA double helix, 3D printed and ‘trophy-fied’ by Darren Gough from Molecular Models.

Thanks to the Nucleic Acids Group, David Rueda and his lab for organising an inspiring day of talks. I’m already looking forward to next year!