Overview
The centromere is a genomic region essential for chromosome segregation. Because of its importance, the genome sequence of the centromere and the kinetochore structures formed on the centromere have been thought to be evolutionarily conserved. However, recent studies have revealed that they are incredibly diversified among species. This symposium will introduce the recently determined complete genome structure of the human centromere to the latest topics on centromeres of non-model organisms and discuss why centromeres are diversified among species.
 
Speakers: Nicolas Altemose (Stanford Univ.), Kaustuv Sanyal (JNCASR), Bungo Akiyoshi (Univ. Edinburgh), Tetsuji Kakutani (Univ. Tokyo), Tatsuo Fukagawa (Osaka Univ.)

Overview
Now that we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, and no one doubts the tremendous impact of a pandemic on human society. In today's increasingly globalized world, the risk of infectious diseases is always lurking, and the “next pandemic” could strike at any time. In this symposium, we introduce the scientific activity of the members of “G2P-Japan consortium”, a collaborative network to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, we provide an opportunity to think broadly about what we can and should do to prepare for the “next pandemic” from the standpoint of basic research in genetics.
 
Speakers: Kei Sato (Univ. Tokyo), Takasuke Fukuhara (Hokkaido Univ.), Akatsuki Saito (Univ. Miyazaki), Kazuo Takayama (Kyoto Univ.), So Nakagawa (Tokai Univ.), Takashi Gojobori (KAUST)