Commentary

ESF-EMBO Symposium: Antiviral Applications of RNA Interference

Olivier ter Brake^1* , Joost Haasnoot^1* , Jens Kurreck² and Ben Berkhout¹

¹  Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

²  Institute of Industrial Genetics, University of Stuttgart, Allmandring 31, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Retrovirology 2008, 5:81doi:10.1186/1742-4690-5-81

Published:	18 September 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

The first ESF-EMBO symposium on "Applications of antiviral RNA interference (RNAi)" was held in the spring of 2008 (5–10 april) in Sant Feliu de Guixols at the Costa Brava in Spain. Some 60 participants from the fields of RNAi research and virology came together to present their latest findings on RNAi-virus interactions, as well as the progress in the development of RNAi-based antiviral therapeutics. One of the big topics concerned the role of RNAi in natural antiviral defence mechanisms in mammals [1-3]. In addition, new solutions to improve the efficacy and safety of RNAi-based antiviral drugs were presented. The combined expertise of researchers studying RNAi in plants, insects and mammalian systems greatly stimulated the overall discussion. The meeting was funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).