“Intelligent design” of promoters

Q&A: Coffee break with TRANSFAC

This event was held on October 8, 2024

FREE online seminar

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Seminar Description

“…in the future, humans might start playing a role similar to that of gods by designing life…”

Yuval Noah Harari

In this webinar Dr. Alexander Kel, the CEO and CSO of geneXplain GmbH, will delve into the roles of promoters and enhancers in gene regulation and explain why artificial promoters are essential for advancing synthetic biology. Applications of artificial promoters design in gene therapy, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biological circuits for achieving precise biological functions will be discussed. A deep dive into promoter architecture will be provided, covering elements like core promoters, upstream regulatory elements, transcription factor binding sites, and composite elements. Additionally, an overview of key databases and software tools, such as JASPAR, GTRD, TRANSFAC, and Genome Enhancer, that are crucial for promoter design, will be provided. Finally, it will be discussed how machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches can predict promoter activity. The strategies for balancing promoter strength while maximizing specificity and minimizing off-target effects will also be addressed.

The following main topics will be in the focus of this webinar:

  • What are promoters and enhancers? Why do we need artificial promoters?
  • Application in gene therapy, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biological circuits to achieve desired biological functions
  • Understanding of promoter architecture (core promoter, upstream regulatory elements, TFBS, composite elements etc.)
  • Overview of databases and software tools used for artificial promoter construction (e.g., JASPAR, GTRD, TRANSFAC, Genome Enhancer)
  • Machine learning and AI approaches for predicting promoter activity
  • Balancing the promoter strength: maximizing cell/tissue specificity, minimizing off-target effects.

What you will learn in this webseminar 

  • Promoter architecture
  • Principles of artificial promoter construction
  • Application of various tools and databases for artificial promoters design
  • Promoter design optimization: dealing with off-targets and tissue/cell specificity

Seminar Schedule

The session started on October 8th at 6 PM CEST with a lecture from Prof. Dr. Alexander Kel (approx. 1 hour) and was continued with a Q&A session addressing the questions coming from the attendees of the online event (up to 30 minutes).

What You Get

  • 1 hour lecture on artificial promoter construction provided by one of the key opinion makers in the field of gene regulation
  • 30 minutes interactive Q&A session addressing your questions
  • Time-unlimited access to the video record of the session
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The Lecturer

  • Alexander Kel received his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology and Genetics in 1990 and has has over 35 years of research experience in Bioinformatics
  • He studied at Novosibirsk State University, obtaining an M.S. in biology with a focus on mathematical biology in 1985
  • His work spans numerous bioinformatics branches (sequence analysis, gene recognition, promoter/enhancer analysis and prediction, prediction of RNA secondary structure, analysis of signal transduction pathways, identification of drug targets, systems biology and systems medicine)
  • He is the originator of the “fuzzy puzzle” concept for gene regulatory regions modeling
  • Developed “upstream analysis” for identifying biomarkers and drug targets in various diseases
  • Participated in over 20 national and international research projects
  • Author of more than 130 scientific publications and several book chapters on bioinformatics and systems biology
  • CEO and CSO of geneXplain GmbH, Wolfenbüttel, Germany
  • Visiting Professor at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of biochemistry and molecular biology. No programming skills are required.

To Whom It Might Be Interesting

  • Pharma and biotech experts working in the field of gene therapy design
  • Biologists and bioinformaticians working in the areas of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological circuits
  • Students interested in gene regulation aspects

FAQ

That’s ok! All registered course attendees will receive access to the video record of the session together with the presentation materials. 

You can ask your questions live during the online event using the Q&A section of the online webinar, or you can send us your questions in advance using the form on this page and Prof. Dr. Alexander Kel will address them at the online event.

Sure! All duly licensed users will be able to repeat all steps of the analysis that will be shown by Prof. Dr. Alexander Kel during the online event using their TRANSFAC full package accounts.

Ask Your Question

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