Transposable Elements: From Evolution to Engineering (N8)
January 1-4, 2027  | Location to be Determined
Irina Arkhipova, Samuel H Sternberg, Ting Wang and Phillip D. Zamore
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of September 9, 2025 6 PM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Friday, January 1, 2027
4:00–8:00 PM Registration
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer
Saturday, January 2, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
8:00–9:00 AM Welcome and Keynote Address
  Vera Gorbunova †, University of Rochester
Role of L1 Retrotransposons in Aging
 
9:00–11:15 AM Structural and Mechanistic Aspects of Transposition
  Samuel H Sternberg, Columbia University
Functional Roles of Domesticated Reverse Transcriptases in Antiviral Immunity
 
  George E. Ghanim †, Princeton University
Structure and Biochemistry of L1 and Alu Retrotransposition
 
  Akanksha Thawani †, Columbia University
Structures of Vertebrate R2 Retrotransposon Complexes during Target-Primed Reverse Transcription
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break
11:15–12:15 PM Meet the Editors
11:15–1:00 PM Poster Setup
11:15–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–7:00 PM Transposons in Genome Editing and Engineering
  Elizabeth Kellogg †, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Structures of the Holo CRISPR RNA-Guided Transposon Integration Complex
 
  Jonathan S. Gootenberg †, Harvard Medical School
Reprogramming Site-Specific Retrotransposon Activity to New DNA Sites
 
  R. K Slotkin †, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
The Future of Genome Editing in Plants
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
7:30–10:00 PM Posters
Sunday, January 3, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
8:00–11:00 AM Transposons in Disease and Therapeutics
  Ting Wang, Washington University
Transposable Elements and Cancer Epigenome
 
  Heike Keilhack †, ROME Therapeutics
Drug Discovery in the Dark Genome
 
  Hui Shen †, Van Andel Institute
Probing Transposable Element Expression in Single Cells
 
  Katherine Chiappinelli †, George Washington University
The Viral Mimicry Response to Transposable Elements in Cancer
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing
3:00–4:30 PM Career Roundtable
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–7:00 PM Evolution and Genomics
  Irina Arkhipova, Marine Biological Laboratory
Evolution of Reverse Transcription Mechanisms
 
  George Kassiotis †, The Francis Crick Institute
HERVs and Evolution of Antiviral Host Defenses
 
  Oleg Simakov †, University of Vienna
Transposable Elements and Evolution of Metazoan Genome Architecture
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
7:30–10:00 PM Posters
Monday, January 4, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
8:00–11:00 AM Small RNAs and Transposon Silencing
  Phillip D. Zamore, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
How are Pachytene piRNAs Made and What Do They Do?
 
  Yukiko M. Yamashita †, Whitehead Institute
Silencing of Transposons in rDNA and of Selfish Genetic Elements in the Male Germ Line in Flies
 
  René F. Ketting †, Institute for Molecular Biology
Transposon Control by Small RNAs in Nematodes
 
  Ansgar Zoch †, University of Edinburgh
Transposon Silencing in the Mammalian Testis Germline
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–7:00 PM Transposon-Host Interactions
  Deborah Bourc'his †, Institut Curie
Epigenetic Decisions and Reproduction in Mammals
 
  Julius Brennecke †, IMBA - Institut für Molekulare Biotechnologie GmbH
Transposons, piRNAs and Drosophila Oogenesis
 
  Vincent Colot †, École Normale Supérieure
Genetic and Epigenetic Variation and Environmental Adaptation in Arabidopsis
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers)
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
8:00–11:00 PM Entertainment
8:00–11:00 PM Cash Bar
Tuesday, January 5, 2027
12:00–11:59 PM Departure