Challenges in DNA Repair

DNA damage is an inevitable aspect of life, arising from continuous exposure of cells to environmental pollutants, radiation and, importantly, also from cellular metabolites. It is also a major driver of mutagenesis and genome instability and disturbs cellular homeostasis, leading to cancer and aging. Efficient and accurate repair of DNA damage is thus a prerequisite to preserve genomic stability and to counteract cancer and age-related discomfort, two major health care issues within the steadily increasing aged population. Obtaining fundamental and detailed knowledge on DNA repair processes is therefore of prime importance for the eventual design of knowledge-based prevention and therapeutic strategies.

However, there are still many areas of DNA repair that remain poorly explored and studying DNA repair is technically challenging because it is tightly coupled to other cellular processes, very dynamic, context-, cell cycle- and cell type-dependent, involves multiple inter-connected DNA repair pathways relying on complex decision making. Moreover, low abundance DNA lesions and DNA repair-intermediates are very difficult to detect in cells. A multidisciplinary approach is thus the solution.

The main goal of this workshop is to boost exchanges and collaborations between important players in the European DNA repair community with diverse backgrounds and expertise. Uniting forces will allow us to overcome current limitations in order to tackle key outstanding