We cordially invite you to an exciting, interactive and interfacultative course dealing with GENETIC MEDICINE, as one of the most promising fields in lifesciences.
Advances in genotyping and sequencing technologies have led to an unprecedented acceleration of the systematic detection and epidemiologic annotation of genetic susceptibility factors in common diseases. Unravelling the polygenic etiology of inflammatory barrier disorders such as asthma and Crohn disease by high density, SNP-based association mapping in large samples of patients and controls has become a particularly successful example for the discovery of a complex genetic risk map.
However a prerequisite for a translation into medicine remains the full discovery of the sequence variant spectrum related to a given disease etiology. The course will thus have a focus on emerging next generation sequencing technologies, which allow combining both strategies: extracting the full genetic variability of individuals which includes larger structural variants not accessible to regular genotyping technologies and utilizing this data as a basis for a population-based understanding of the genetic variants that cause human disease.
Many disease gene discoveries that have been convincingly annotated are not yet interpreted. Neither the causative molecular principle has been identified nor the resulting pathophysiology cascades. We will demonstrate strategies for systematic functional and pathway mapping approaches and discuss recent advances in transgenic strategies for a fast track translation of genetic findings into complex disease models.
Any future medical use of genetics requires the translation of genetic etiology risk factors from highly selected research samples into population representative patient samples. The handling of relevant genetic data sets and ultimately sequencing of entire human genomes demands high data protection standards, clear rules for diagnostic applications and public understanding. We will thus devote an entire session for interfacultative discussion of ethical questions arising from genetic findings.
Genetic susceptibility would not precipitate into diseases without the adequate trigger events. It appears evident that the residing microbial flora on human body surfaces is an important trigger factor of common diseases from obesity to atopic dermatitis. We will address recent advances in the annotation and manipulation of the residing microbial flora as it may represent a window to influence genetically predetermined disease manifestation by means of environmental modification in therapy and preventive strategies.
The theoretical course will be followed by a condensed practical part, which covers most aspects of the field ranging from transgenic technologies to genotyping methods and next generation sequencing applications. A special focus will be the bioinformatical handling and mining of huge biological data sets.
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Kiel.