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Happy Birthday, DNA!

Life Science Day on October 24 at Freie Universität Berlin under Aegis of Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit

№ 312/2013 from Oct 18, 2013

Freie Universität Berlin is hosting a Life Science Day on October 24, 2013. Highly regarded experts in health care and the health care industry will report on recent research findings and the latest developments in their fields. The third Life Science Day will take place under the aegis of the Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit and as part of the Year of DNA. The 17th Leibniz Conference of Advanced Science will also take place at the same time. The conference will focus on important anniversaries such as the 60th anniversary of the discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as well as recent findings from DNA research. Parallel to the conference there will be a Day of Opportunities (Tag der Chancen) Forum on vocational training for interested high school and university students, a science slam focusing on DNA, and an exclusive tour of the special exhibition 60 Years of DNA at the Natural History Museum in Berlin. Admission to the conference and the museum tour costs 50 curos and for students 10 euros. RSVP by email: anmeldung@lifescienceday.de. Admission to the science slam is free of charge, and no advance registration is required.

The speakers at the meeting will address the fundamental discoveries of recent decades in molecular biology that are of particular relevance for today's biomedical science. From an interdisciplinary view they will discuss the current status of today's genome research related to the diagnosis and treatment methods of the future. There will also be a poster exhibition and a product display on genome research by renowned biotech companies in Berlin and Brandenburg. The organizers of the event are the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, the Leibniz-Institut für interdisziplinäre Studien e. V. (LIFIS), the Berlin Southwest Regional Management, and Freie Universität Berlin.

The structure of the DNA double helix was presented for the first time on April 25, 1953, in the journal Nature. The other anniversaries are the description of the RNA 45 years ago, the first successful DNA amplification by the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method 30 years ago, and the decoding of the primary sequence of the human genome 10 years ago.

Time, Location, Registration

  • Thursday, October 24, 2013, 9:30 a.m.
  • Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin, Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin; subway station: Thielplatz (U3)
  • Please sign up in advance: anmeldung@lifescienceday.de
  • Admission costs 50 euros, for students 10 euros. The fees include admission to the conference program and access to all the events.

Further Information