RNase H 2026

The 18^th RNase H meeting, organized by 4R Research Training Group in cooperation with Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH, will take place in Mainz, Germany. It will cover everything about RNases H: substrates, biochemistry, structures, genetics, and diseases involving RNases H. This meeting has been held every two years since 1990 (except for 2020, due to COVID), with Japan, USA, Canada, Scotland, France, Poland, and Germany hosting.

Two RNases H are found in most organisms and these nucleases have important roles relating to DNA replication, DNA damage prevention and DNA repair. Humans with mutations in RNASEH1 exhibit a severe mitochondrial myopathy, whereas mutations in any of the subunits of the heterotrimeric RNase H2 cause a severely disabling interferonopathy, Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome. Retroviruses, including AIDS-HIV, encode a reverse transcriptase that has DNA polymerase and RNase H activity, both of which directly participate in replication of the viral DNA.

Many of the major discoveries on RNases H, composition, structures, substrates and functions, were first reported at one of these meetings. Studies presented at these meetings used model organisms, including prokaryotes, fungi, plants, viruses, animals and humans, establishing abundant properties and roles for RNases H.

Join us in November 2026 to hear about new and exciting results!