On Friday 24 April 2026, a meeting to mark International DNA Day was held at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań (IBCH PAS), organised by the Director of the Institute, Luiza Handschuh, PhD, Assoc. Prof., the Department of Cancer Genetics at IBCH PAS – Izabela Broniarek, PhD, Marcin Drzewiecki, MSc and Katarzyna Klonowska, PhD as well as Zbigniew Warkocki, PhD, Assoc. Prof., representing the Nucleic Acids Section of the Polish Biochemical Society. It was an excellent opportunity to celebrate two extremely important scientific discoveries in the field of DNA research – the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA (1953) and the completion of the Human Genome Project (2003), which provided information on the sequence of the human genome.

In the first part of the event, two interesting lectures were delivered:

•    Prof. Jan Barciszewski – “DNA at 2026”

•    Prof. Piotr Ziółkowski – “Crossing over in plants: the DNA shuffle behind diversity”

Subsequently, the second part, featured a networking session moderated by the Department of Cancer Genetics. This took the form of interactive group workshops. A lively discussion ensued on the most significant discoveries in genetics over the past decades, as well as their future prospects, including the role of AI in shaping DNA research in the coming years. A DNA knowledge quiz was also held, with Anastasiia Zaremba from the Laboratory of Single Cell Analyses emerging as the winner.

Every year, IBCH PAS makes a significant contribution to the development of research in the field of DNA chemistry and biology. The meeting provided an opportunity for active debate on contemporary DNA research and its future directions.

Thank you to everyone for attending and taking part in the discussion!