The 2nd Polish RNA Biology Meeting took place at the Adam Mickiewicz University UAM) in Poznań. The event was co-organized by UAM, RNA society and Polish Academy of Sciences.

Purpose of the conference: Poznań has been a center of RNA research focused on tRNA structure and function the 1960s. Currently, many research groups work on a range of topics related to RNA biology. The meeting serves as a platform to stimulate new collaborations, inspire the use of advanced technologies, and encourage the participants to initiate new and challenging research directions.

Invited Speakers: Presentations were mainly delivered by young researchers and keynote lectures were held by the invited speakers: Elena Conti (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany), Andrzej Dziembowski (International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland), Dominique Gagliardi (University of Strasbourg, France ), Sebastian Glatt (Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Kraków, Poland), Kai Papenfort (Institute of Microbiology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany), Ramesh Pillai (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Geneva, Switzerland), Bertrand Séraphin (Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Illkirch, France).

Team Representation: The Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology was represented by 3 groups:

Sebastian Glatt’s team (Monika Gaik, Marcin Jaciuk, Łukasz Koziej, Jakub Nowak), Magdalena Maslon’s team (Magdalena Ożóg and Shraddha Shinde) and Anna Kula-Pacurar’s team (Haider Ali, Jakub Wadas and Aleksandra Osiecka).

Program Highlights: The meeting gathered more than 300 participants from Poland, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ireland, Slovenia, UK, Netherlands and USA, which consisted of 8 sessions.

• Sebastian Glatt gave an inspiring talk about: “tRNAslational control of eukaryotic gene expression”
• Monika Gaik presented her project focused on “Deciphering Human Dihydrouridine Synthases: Structural Insights and Therapeutic Potential”.
• Haider Ali delivered a talk titled “The m⁶A modification of HIV-1 RNA is linked with a ribonucleoprotein MATR3-ELAVL1 complex”.
• Jakub Nowak presented a talk titled “DyRNA Thermometry allows to monitor position specific structural changes in folded RNA”.

The rest of the participants participated in poster session:

• Marcin Jaciuk presented a poster: “Understanding the Molecular Mechanism of Elongator in tRNA Anticodon Modification”
• Magdalena Ożóg presented a poster: ”Aneuploidy-Induced Expression Changes in Trisomy 21 Pluripotent Stem Cells”.
• Shraddha Shinde presented a poster: “Toward Understanding the Developmental Tuning of RNA Polymerase II Elongation Speed”.

• Jakub Wadas presented a poster: “Developing a tool to uncover novel molecular targets in post-transcriptional latency of HIV – a genome-wide and targeted approach”
• Aleksandra Osiecka presented a poster: „Characterization of the role of Methyltransferase METTL16 in HIV-1 replication”

Outcomes: The meeting provided insights into the opportunities and current challenges in RNA biology research. The presentations were met with constructive discussions and fruitful exchange of scientific ideas.

Stay tuned as the next RNA biology meeting will take place in 2027 in Krakow.