Extrachromosomal Circular DNA is emerging as a new frontier for biomedical research. Unlike the typical chromosome, which is linear, circular DNA does not have free ends. This circularity nature makes them defy much of the knowledge we have learned from the textbook, making this an exciting topic to uncover new biologies. Meanwhile, Circular DNA abundantly exists from plants to animals, including humans. Strikingly, now we know circular DNA is present in nearly 30% of cancer patients (known as extrachromosomal circular DNA, ecDNA). Circular DNA appears to be a common mechanism for cancer cells to amplify their oncogenes, driving tumor initiation and progression, and strongly attracting industry interest to target circular DNA biology for cancer therapy.

Key Sessions

• Chromosomal or Extrachromosomal
• Life cycle of extrachromosomal circular DNA
• Function of extrachromosomal circular DNA
• From Selfish elements: viruses and transposons
• Genome dynamics and evolution
• Cancer and other diseases

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Vineet Bafna (University of California, San Diego)
Yves Barral (ETH Zurich)
Jef Boeke (NYU Langone Health)
Howard Chang (Stanford University)
Haiyun Gan (Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology)
Bikram Gill (Kansas State University)
Peng Han (University of Copenhagen)
Anton Henssen (Max Delbrück Center)
Ruth Kroschewski (ETH Zurich)
Heng-Chi Lee (University of Chicago)
Micah Luftig (Duke University)
Wei Lv (Zhejiang University)
Paul Salomon Mischel (Stanford University)
Agnel Sfeir (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
Chun-Qing Song (Westlake University)
Monica Triana (University of Copenhagen)
Roel Verhaak (Yale University)
Chia-Lin Wei (University of Washington)
Sihan Wu (UT Southwestern)

Target Audience

Emerging as a new frontier for researchers globally, the topics discussed during this meeting will interest the broad biomedical research community, with emphasis on those with a research focus on extrachromosomal circular DNA and wider topics surrounding the cancer genome, cancer evolution, and DNA/chromatin biology.

Educational Need

Extrachromosomal circular DNA brings a layer of genome dynamics to alter the genetic information. This process appears to be essential for promoting animal development and driving diseases. For example, cancer cells extensively exploit this DNA form to evolve within patient and as such, understanding its biology would bring novel perspectives for developing new therapeutic modalities.

Although the programme has not yet been released, we are able to confirm that the main conference programme should begin no earlier than 16:00 with opening comments on Friday 31 October 2025. The conference will conclude with our Gala Dinner on the penultimate evening, with Monday 03 November reserved for depatures.