Yi Zhang of Harvard is Keynote at Epigenetics Conference - May 8-10, Boston, MA

MONROVIA, CA, March 28, 2013 (Press-News.org) Yi Zhang, HHMI Investigator and Senior Investigator of the Program of Cellular & Molecular Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and a Professor of Genetics and of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School will speak on the "Mechanism and Function of Tet-mediated 5mC Oxidation" at the 3rd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery Conference on May 8-10, 2013 in Boston, MA.

Epigenetic modifications play important roles in diverse biological processes that range from regulation of gene expression, embryonic development, stem cell reprogramming, and human diseases. One of the epigenetic modifications is DNA methylation. Although enzymes responsible for DNA methylation have been well characterized, how active DNA demethylation is achieved in mammalian cells has remained elusive till recently. Recent studies have suggested that the ten-eleven translocation (Tet)-mediated oxidation of 5mC followed by Tdg-mediated excision and DNA repair is a mechanism of DNA demethylation. In his talk, Dr Zhang will discuss this demethylation pathway and its biological implications.

Dr. Yi Zhang is currently an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Senior Investigator of the Program of Cellular & Molecular Medicine of the Boston Children's Hospital. He is also a Fred Rosen chair Professor of the Department of Genetics and Department of Pediatrics of the Harvard Medical School. Before he moved to Harvard, he was a Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His major interest is to understand the epigenetic mechanism of gene expression in the context of early development, stem cell reprogramming, differentiation, and reward-related learning and memory. He is also interested in how dysregulation of chromatin modifying enzymes contribute to various human diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and drug addiction. His group is responsible for the identification and characterization of several classes of epigenetic enzymes that include histone methyltransferases, demethylases, and the Tet family of dioxygenases.

GTC's 3rd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery conference is the only epigenetics conference that brings together a balanced mix of leading experts from the industry and academia to collaborate on the latest research on novel epigenetic mechanisms, therapeutics, developments, biomarkers and diagnostics. Venture capitalists will also join the conference to discuss investment opportunities and what they look for in the epigenetics space.

This conference is also part of the Drug Discovery Summit 2013, which consists of this track and three other tracks:

7th Drug Design & Medicinal Chemistry
6th Imaging in Drug Discovery & Development
Orphan Drugs Research and Commercialization

For more information, please visit
http://www.gtcbio.com/epigenetics

GTC organizes conferences specifically for the biotechnology, life science and pharmaceutical industries. Our conferences bring together high-level/influential leaders with decision-making authority from the industry, academia, and government. Our approach offers a more intimate and networking-oriented environment that is geared towards connecting field research with new and existing technology so that scientists and industry can further collaborate and advance developments in molecular imaging in drug discovery and development.

GTC (Global Technology Community), LLC, is a privately held company founded in 2002.