Meeting reports

The Hidden Cell, Dark Genome Conference 2025 meeting, sponsored by the Biochemical Society, brought together 140 participants representing diverse fields within cell biology, genomics and structural biology.The conference focused on illuminating understudied areas of biology across five challenge areas: regulatory functions of the dark genome, complexity of RNA processing, uncharted proteins, cell diversity and control of cell fate transitions, and atomic structures at the cellular scale. It featured six keynote speakers from different disciplines and with diverse technological expertise, alongside 19 speakers selected from abstract submissions, many of which were early career researchers (ECRs).The highly interdisciplinary nature of the meeting was mentioned as a strength in participant feedback, particularly by ECRs, who appreciated the opportunity to hear about cutting-edge research from multiple fields in a single conference. Moreover, the cross-disciplinary environment successfully facilitated connections between researchers who might not typically interact at more specialised meetings.The Biochemical Society’s generous sponsorship enabled us to award prizes for the best ECR talk and three outstanding poster presentations, recognising excellent research contributions and enhancing the visibility of innovative work by emerging scientists.