Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc.


EDITORIAL

14th Workshop on Fetal Cells and Fetal DNA

Thomas Liehr and Heinz-Ulli G. Weier

Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany (TL), and Life Sciences Division, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California (H-UGW)

Correspondence to: Dr. Thomas Liehr, The Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, Postfach, D-07740 Jena, Germany. E-mail: i8lith{at}mti.uni-jena.de

The beautiful university town of Jena, Germany, with its unique spectrum of rich history and cutting edge, state-of-the-the-art bioengineering research and development, provided the setting for the "14th Workshop on Fetal Cells and Fetal DNA." Focusing on "Recent Progress in Molecular Genetics and Cytogenetic Investigations for Early Prenatal and Postnatal Diagnosis," the two-day Workshop held in the Lecture Hall building of the Friedrich-Schiller-University on April 17th–18th, 2004, brought together approximately 200 scientists.

This Workshop was the third in a series of events summarizing the progress achieved in the European Union's (EU) 2001–2003 "Copernicus 2" project. This project entitled "Study of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of the most frequent chromosomal anomalies" represents a multinational effort to curb the occurrence of common birth defects through better pre- and perinatal diagnostic procedures. A collaborative effort among researchers in Athens, Berlin, Jena, Luebeck, Montpellier, Moscow, Prague, and Rostov applied state-of-the-art molecular and cytogenetic methods to investigate the role of environmental risk factors in the etiology of aneuploidies by analysis of epidemiological data and determination of prenatal and meiotic origin of aneuploidies. Previous meetings were held in Prague, Czech Republic (2002), and in Athens, Greece (2003).

The 14th Workshop was preceded by the final meeting of the Copernicus 2 Working Group on Friday, April 16, 2004, held at the Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany (Prof. U. Claussen, Director), which also provided staff and logistics for the 14th Workshop. The Institute's beautiful cobblestone-paved courtyard is surrounded by some of the Institute buildings, which (in part) date back to the 16th century, when the first medical schools were established in Germany. In addition to having assumed a leading role in human genetics education in Germany, the Institute is also home to an extensive collection of medical specimens reaching back to the 17th century, when the surrounding areas of Middle Germany were devastated in wartime battles. As an unusual treat, visitors to the Institute, students, staff, and aspiring young scientists are greeted by tombstones rescued from the graves of the first generation of teachers and students, providing a vivid reminder that human genetics, anthropology, and history span not just one, but many, centuries.

Another satellite event was held on April 16, 2004. The EU's Network of Excellence "SAFE" was a meeting held behind closed doors, which was attended by some of the participants of the 14th Workshop. Indeed, the SAFE project supported the 14th Workshop by covering registration costs for their members.

What was so special about the Copernicus 2 project and the 14th Workshop that motivated a dedicated issue of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry? First, the proceedings published in this volume represent a snapshot of the state-of-the-art technology presently applied in perinatal diagnosis in Europe as well as new technologies to be developed in years to come. Second, this Workshop organized by Dr. Thomas Liehr brought together a diverse group of registrants. In addition to registrants from 20 European countries, other participants traveled from Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the US, thus reflecting to some extent the breadth of the international cytogenetics and histochemistry communities. Because several approaches presented at the meeting, such as the analysis of fetal DNA present in maternal blood samples or the enrichment of fetal cells from small size maternal blood samples, are subject to controversies, presentations were often followed by very lively discussions. Furthermore, the meeting outline wasn't purely academic: an industrial exhibit area close to the auditorium gave Workshop participants ample opportunity to interact with representatives from 10 health sciences–oriented companies (ABBOTT/Vysis, AHF Analysentechnik, Applied Imaging, Jena Bioscience, Leica, MetaSystems, NeTech, NEN, Q-BIOgene, Carl Zeiss Jena).

The Workshop was organized around 10 plenary sessions comprised of a total of 65 lectures supplemented by a poster session with approximately 30 posters. Plenary sessions on Saturday morning (April 17, 2004) focused on prenatal diagnoses using either biochemical or ultrasound markers or the analysis of fetal nucleated red blood cells isolated from maternal blood. Poster presentations were held at 1:00 PM, and lead presenters, as well as lecturers for the four afternoon sessions, discussed topics spanning a wide range of disciplines from digital imaging and automated detection of fetal cells over trophoblast culture and biology to pregestational diagnosis (PGD) and the application of DNA micro-arrays in prenatal diagnosis. An organ recital in Jena's Stadtkirche St. Michael (with parts of the tower dating as far back as the 15th century) on Saturday evening provided a welcome opportunity to unwind after a busy day at the Workshop.

Sunday morning presented a densely packed program with presentations focusing on the analysis of fetal DNA and RNA, as well as proteins using in vitro DNA amplification and protein chip technologies, respectively. Many of the Workshop participants expressed that a highlight of the meeting was the afternoon sessions with a total of 11 presentations organized in two plenary sessions: molecular cytogenetics and molecular diagnostic diagnosis of abnormalities. The first session was comprised of six presentations describing applications of multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in the detection of chromosomal abnormalities. The five presentations in the latter session highlighted recent progress in the rapid prenatal diagnosis of aneuploidy and mutations using in vitro DNA amplification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative, real-time PCR.

The 35 papers in this volume of the Journal are intended to give the reader a comprehensive overview of the presentations at the Workshop without emphasizing any particular area. Further information about oral and poster presentations, abstracts, and a preliminary meeting schedule can be found in Medizinische Genetik (2004), Volume 16, pages 93–113.

Financial support for this meeting provided by Carl Zeiss Jena, BIOZOL, the two European Union-sponsored Scientific Programs (Copernicus 2, SAFE), and the German Society for Human Genetics (GfH) is gratefully acknowledged. The abstracts of the meeting were published in Medizinische Genetik—1/2004 (Volume 16, pages 93–113) with support from the EU Copernicus 2 Program. H-UGW was supported by Grants CA-88258 and HD-44313 from the National Institutes of Health (USA). Finally, the publication of the proceedings in the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry was made possible through generous support from the Histochemical Society, USA. We wish to thank our numerous reviewers, managing editors, and the knowledgeable staff from the Journal office for their assistance in compiling these proceedings in a timely manner.


    Footnotes
 
Received for publication January 4, 2005; accepted January 5, 2005





This Article
Full Text (PDF)
Alert me when this article is cited
Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Similar articles in this journal
Similar articles in PubMed
Alert me to new issues of the journal
Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Articles by Liehr, T.
Articles by Weier, H.-U. G.
Articles citing this Article
PubMed
PubMed Citation
Articles by Liehr, T.
Articles by Weier, H.-U. G.


Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]