The 2nd National Young Bioinformatics Forum and the 11th Young Bioinformatics Principle Investigator (YBP) Workshop were held at Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) from Nov 26 to 27.

The forum and workshop attracted over 100 experts, scholars and graduate students from more than ten top universities and research institutes in China, including Peking University, Zhejiang University and Fudan University, to discuss cutting-edge issues in the field of bioinformatics.

The event opened at the National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbial Resources Exploitation and Utilization on Nov 26. Chen Zhenxia from the College of Life Science & Technology at HZAU delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He introduced the university and the history and purpose of the YBP Workshop, and expressed his hope that the workshop could help the growth of the next generation of young bioinformatics scientists.

During the academic presentation session, 24 young bioinformatics scholars presented their latest research findings in areas such as bioinformatics algorithm development, multi-omics integration, genome evolution and population cohort studies.

In the young researchers presentation session, Tan Shengjun from the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), introduced a model of transposon-mediated gene duplication and structural variation driving genome evolution, as well as the clinical application value of screening for active transposons through high-throughput methods.

Qian Sheng, a postdoctoral fellow from Zhejiang University, presented the evolution and function of DNA structural element G-quadruplex in vertebrates.

Jiang Shuai, a researcher from the CAS Beijing Institute of Genomics, reported on the construction of a reference annotation set of human lncRNAs, pointing out the potential of lncRNAs to become novel targets for immunotherapy.

During the YBP Workshop, Li Shengli, a professor from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, presented the construction of a pan-cancer transcriptome map, highlighting how the establishment of the RBP-transcriptome-drug axis has promoted the discovery of anti-cancer drugs.

Jing Ying, a researcher from Fudan University, discussed the development of a model for predicting the toxic side effects of tumor immunotherapy, providing guidance for preventing the toxic side effects of immunotherapy and selecting beneficiary populations for immunotherapy.

Zhang Lihua from Wuhan University introduced the development and application of tools for integrating single-cell multi-omics and spatial genomics data.

After the workshop, Zhang Yong from Tongji University and Gao Ge from Peking University engaged in in-depth discussions and interactions with young principal investigators on their career development.

The event was organized by the Youth Work Committee of the Chinese Society of Bioinformatics and was co-hosted by HZAU’s College of Life Science & Technology and the College of Biomedicine & Health, as well as the Hubei Bioinformatics Society.