In November 17^th and 18^th IBCH PAS hosted Gaël Cristofari who is a Research Director at the Institute for Research on Cancer and Ageing (IRCAN), Nice, France. Gaël’s Cristofari’s research concentrates on biochemical and genomic studies of repetitive sequences in the human genome with the special emphasis on (retro)transposons, mobile genetic elements or so called “jumping genes”. He is a deputy director of the French national consortium on transposable elements. Gaël delivered a highly interesting lecture including a lot of novel unpublished data. He explained the effects of LINE-1 retrotransposons on genetic variability, and molecular mechanisms, including DNA methylation, which regulate the mobility of the retrotransposons in a cell and tissue specific manners, also in cancer development. The visit also encompassed six scientific meetings with IBCH and other local scientists.