Vladimir Strelnikov took part in the Lectorium of the Russian Science Foundation as part of the NAUKA 0+ All-Russian Festival

Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the Moscow Government with support of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) organized the All-Russian NAUKA 0+ Festival. The purpose of the festival was to popularize science and inform about the most relevant research conducted by Russian scientists. Organizations whose work RSF grants support participated in the festival.

This year, due to the difficult epidemic situation, the NAUKA 0+ All-Russian Festival has been held online: virtual tours around the festival participants' laboratories were prepared (the Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Peoples' Friendship University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of RAS) and RSF Lectures were broadcasted. Audience of the Lectorium "Truth and Myths about Medicines, Food and Climate of the Future" consisted of more than 1000 people; the event gave them an opportunity to learn about the latest research achievements supported by RSF grants and to talk directly with scientists.

Dr. Vladimir Strelnikov, Head of the FSBI RCMG Epigenetics Laboratory, presented his lecture "Epigenomic Portrait of a Tumor" and told about the work as part of the grant "DNA Methylation in Assessment of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer". A study of the extent of tumor gene methylation in breast cancer could help oncologists fight the disease. Researchers at the FSBI RCMG Epigenetics laboratory are developing a method to predict whether chemotherapy will be effective in each case or will be a waste of time. Each tumor is individual and has its own genetic structure. That is why the developments of geneticists are crucial for creating the most effective approaches to fighting cancer.

Many questions from the Lectorium audience related to the prospects of using that method in clinical practice. Vladimir Strelnikov emphasized that assessment of gene methylation degree could become an addition to the current diagnostic and prognostic methods, but first, the researchers needed to test the results on large samples of patients.