Please join NEB at our 2026 Symposium: Unorthodox Genomes - Redefining Life
Join us for a day of talks and posters exploring these "unorthodox genomes".
Featured topics include:
- Viroid-like RNA in microbiomes
- Mobile genetic elements
- Giant extrachromosomal DNA
- Jumbo phages
Date: Thursday, March 26, 2026
Time: 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM *Registration begins at 9 AM
Location: Aloft Boston Seaport District | 401-403 D Street | Boston, MA 02210
| Time | Speaker | Session |
| 9:00 AM | Registration |
|
| 9:45 AM | Salvatore Russello Chief Executive Officer Sir Richard Roberts Nobel Laureate & Chief Scientific Officer, New England Biolabs |
Welcome & Introduction |
| 10:00 AM | Dr. Andrew Fire Stanford University School of Medicine |
The Living Transcriptome |
| 10:45 AM | Dr. Andrew Varble University of Rochester Medical Center |
Obelisks – Replication and Impact of Circular RNAs in Bacteria |
| 11:30 PM | Lunch | |
| 12:45 PM |
Professor José Penadés |
Two Tales about Phages and Their Satellites |
| 1:30 PM |
Dr. Kimberley Seed |
Coevolution of Phage and Bacteria During Disease in Humans |
| 2:15 PM | Break | |
| 2:30 PM |
Professor Joseph Pogliano |
The Surprising Complexity of Jumbo Phage Biology |
| 3:15 PM |
Professor Jillian Banfield |
Complete Genomes from Metagenomes Reveal Evolutionary Patterns in a Diverse Set of Extrachromosomal Elements of Methanotrophic Archaea |
| 4:00 PM | Closing Remarks Tom Evans, Ph.D. Executive Director of Research |
|
| 4:15 - 5:30 PM | Poster Session Reception |
