On Thursday, 17 March, a book presentation took place to introduce the latest publication co-edited by Dr. Kyriacos Felekkis, Associate Professor in the Department of Life and Health Sciences of the University of Nicosia. He is currently the Associate Head of Department, the Coordinator of the Human Biology programme and the Histopathology Lead at the University of Nicosia Medical School. The book, entitled ‘Genomic Elements in Health, Disease and Evolution’, was co-edited with Dr. Konstantinos Voskarides, a special scientist at the Medical School of the University of Cyprus, teaching Genetics, Cell Biology and Biochemistry.

BOOK SUMMARY

Over 98% of the human genome contains non-coding DNA sequences. For many years molecular biologists referred to this component of the genome as the “junk” DNA since it does not code for any “useful” protein product. Over the last years this notion changed significantly as scientists discovered that a large part of this DNA contains various genomic elements that have important roles in cell physiology. Genomic elements such as non-coding RNAs, transposons, splicing RNAs, DNArepeats and others were shown to play a significant role in regulating gene expression. In addition, all these elements were implicated to contribute in the pathogenesis or progression of various human diseases. In this book, the editors describe all these genomic elements that constitute the junk DNA of the genome. For every genomic element, the physiologic role in the organism, its role in evolution and any possible involvement in human diseases is discussed. Additionally, interactionbetween these elements in normal or pathologic condition will be discussed. Since a large amount of new knowledge is generated daily in regards to these genomic elements, this book combines all the information in a single publication that can serve as a reference for future studies.

CONTRIBUTORS

  • Elsa P. Amanatiadou , M.Sc. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki , Greece
  • Thian Thian Beh , B.Sc. (Hons.) University of Melbourne , Melbourne , VIC , Australia
  • Catherine Demoliou , Ph.D. University of Nicosia , Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Pavlos Fanis , B.Sc., Ph.D. The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics , Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Kyriacos Felekkis , B.Sc., Ph.D. University of Nicosia, Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Sarantis Gagos , Ph.D. Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA)
  • Vasiliki A. Galani, Ph.D. University of Ioannina , Ioannina , Epirus , Greece
  • Fernando M. García-Rodriguez , Ph.D. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científi cas , Granada , Spain
  • Ioannis Georgiou, Ph.D. University of Ioannina , Ioannina , Epirus , Greece
  • Monika Gullerova , Ph.D.University of Oxford , Oxford , UK
  • Michalis Hadjithomas , B.Sc., Ph.D. Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley , CA , USA
  • Paul Kalitsis , Ph.D. University of Melbourne , Melbourne , VIC , Australia
  • Costas Koufaris , Ph.D. The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics , Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Penelope Kroustallaki , B.Sc., M.Sc. Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
  • Paris Ladias , B.Sc. University of Ioannina , Ioannina , Epirus , Greece
  • Leandros Lazaros , Ph.D. University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Epirus, Greece
  • Sofi a Markoula , M.D., Ph.D. University Hospital of Ioannina , Ioannina , Epirus , Greece
  • Francisco Martínez-Abarca , Ph.D. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científi cas , Granada , Spain
  • María Dolores Molina-Sánchez , Ph.D. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científi cas , Granada , Spain
  • Rafael Nisa-Martínez , Ph.D. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científi cas , Granada , Spain
  • Gregory Papagregoriou , Ph.D. University of Cyprus, Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Carolina Sismani , Ph.D. The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics , Nicosia , Cyprus
  • Sotirios S. Tezias , M.Sc. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki , Greece
  • Nicolás Toro, Ph.D. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científi cas , Granada , Spain
  • Ioannis S. Vizirianakis , Ph.D. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki,Greece
  • Konstantinos Voskarides , Ph.D. University of Cyprus , Nicosia , Cyprus

EDITORS

Dr Kyriacos Felekkis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Life and Health Sciences of the University of Nicosia. He is currently the Associate Head of Department, the Coordinator of the Human Biology program and the Histopathology Lead at the University of Nicosia Medical School. Dr Felekkis obtained his PhD degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 2004 in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Since 2011, he is a TRF in the Department of Life and Health Sciences and the Medical School of the University. He holds an honorary appointment by St George’s University of London Medical School. In 2015 he was elected Head of the Department, a post that will commence on April 2016.  He is the Faculty Sponsor of the UNIC Human Biology Society and a member of various professional societies. In 2015, Dr Felekkis was appointed a member of the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee by the Council of Ministers. His research interests center around the study of microRNAs and their role in the pathogenesis of human disease as well as their contribution ingene expression regulation. His work has been published in various International Journals and books.

Dr. Konstantinos Voskarides was born in Limassol and works in the field of Molecular Genetics for the last 15 years. He studied Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and then completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Cyprus, under the supervision of Prof. Constantinos Deltas. Currently, he is a special scientist at the Medical School of University of Cyprus, teaching Genetics, Cell Biology and Biochemistry. He has been post-doctoral researcher at the Molecular Medicine Research Center of University of Cyprus where he also contributed to the establishment of the first Cypriot Biobank at the University. His research interest focus on the molecular genetics of different renal diseases and genetics of Y chromosome. He is also interested in the evolution of the human genome and the study of different genomic elements that contribute to survival of living organisms. Dr Voskarides has published 33 peer review papers in high quality scientific journals. He is a founder member of the Cyprus Society of Human Genetics, member of the European Society of Human Genetics and of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution.