The 14th edition of the SifrARN (Structure, Integration, Function and Reactivity of RNA) conference will be held from the 30^th of June to the 2^nd of July 2026 in Rennes, France. This conference aims at gathering people from all fields of RNA biology, to exchange and discuss unifying themes related to the importance of RNA.

RNAs play key roles in the regulation of gene expression in all living organisms and are also used as markers and therapeutic targets in many diseases including cancer and infectious diseases. The wide variety of roles and mechanisms of action of RNAs are based on their structures, modifications and interactions with proteins. The SifrARN conference will cover all aspects of RNA biology with a focus on recent technological advances to identify, detect and study RNA molecules, in order to better understand their wide range of actions.

We will have the pleasure to listen to three keynote speakers: Pr John Atkins, Pr Mihaela Zavolan, and Pr Pierre Close.

The Organising Committee.

John Atkins is a research professor at the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University College Cork, Ireland.
Pr John Atkins pioneered researches into RNA viruses. He focuses on recoding, including phenomena such as programmed ribosomal frameshifting or insertion within proteins of amino acids that are not part of the genetic code.
Mihaela Zavolan is a Professor in Computational Biology/Genomics, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland. She had a strong input into the discovery and characterization of several miRNAs in various organisms. She focuses on mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene expression control, involving small non-coding RNAs and RNA-binding proteins.
Pierre Close is a Research Director and WELRI (Walloon excellence research institute) investigator at GIGA Institute, ULIÈGE, Belgium. He is a co-Founder of THERAtRAME. He is studying codon-specific mRNA translation, tRNA modifications and selective protein synthesis in cancer development, progression and resistance to therapy, with a recent focus in immune oncology.

14th SifrARN from June 30 to July 2, 2026! Save the date!