Stefan Stamm is Associate Professor in the Department for Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky. He studied Biochemistry in Hannover (Germany) and did the practical work for his Ph D as well as postdoctoral work at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. His research focuses on mechanisms and regulation of alternative splicing, with the aim to apply the fi ndings to the Prader-Willi Syndrome and Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Chris Smith is Professor of RNA Molecular Biology in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. His Ph D research in Biochemistry was carried out at the University of London, followed by postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. His research interests encompass the mechanisms, regulation and function of alternative splicing. Reinhard Lührmann is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen where he is head of the Department of Cellular Biochemistry. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Göttingen. He has studied chemistry at the University of Münster where he also received his Ph D. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. His research focuses on the structure and mechanism of the spliceosome.