The 2009 Gordon Conference on Evolutionary & Ecological Functional Genomics will present cutting-edge snapshots of ways in which genomics approaches are being used to study adaptation of organisms to changing environments, genome evolution and population genetics, as well as the role of genomic evolution in the evolution of complex phenotypes. In particular, several of the talks this year will highlight "global change genomics" and evidence for evolution at the molecular and phenotypic levels in response to climate change. A diversity of sessions will highlight recent results from natural as well as experimental populations, and will cover both non-model and model species. There will be an exciting balance between ecologists using genomics to study adaptation in rapidly evolving systems, as well as genomicists turning large-scale sequence, expression and functional assays to study variation among populations and species. Several sessions will emphasize recent findings on plant ecological genomics. Other topics will include the evolutionary genomics of infectious disease; microbial metagenomics; population genomics of model species (such as humans, Drosophila and yeast); and the genomics of speciation.

The conveners, Scott Edwards (Harvard) and Loretta Johnson (Kansas State University) have invited approximately 25 world-class speakers in these diverse areas, all of whom will be presenting at this particular Gordon conference for the very first time. Many are young investigators with exciting new systems to discuss whereas we also have several established leaders of the field. The conveners are committed to assembling a diverse conference and are actively applying for funds to allow graduate students and others to attend. Although attendance at Gordon conferences is by application, we intend to admit as many as we can on a first-come-first serve basis, and the limit for this particular conference is 165 attendees. We hope to see you there!

The 2009 Gordon Research Conference on RNA Editing brings together scientists interested on RNA and DNA editing, as well as a large contingent of scientists working on DNA and RNA modification. This conference has been held for over 10 years and is the only regularly scheduled meeting devoted to these topics. The goal of the conference is to foster the exchange of ideas among individuals working on different types of nucleic acid editing and modification who are at the forefront of this exciting, fast-moving and diverse field with the hope of promoting new insights and deeper understanding of editing and modification mechanisms.

Editing is found in all organisms, including bacteria, protozoans, plants, yeast, flies and mammals. Mechanistically, there are many diverse types of editing that alter the sequence of RNA or DNA. In the case of modifications, their variety and extent are quite astonishing, with almost 100 different nucleosides reported in all types of nucleic acids. Both Editing and Modification influence many vital processes including genetic imprinting, splicing, protein synthesis, immunoglobulin class switch recombination, somatic hypermutation, cancer virus replication and control of miRNA. It is now clear that scientists investigating these diverse processes face many of the same theoretical and technical challenges. Thus, there is an ever-increasing need for cross-fertilization between these fields. The GRC on RNA Editing represents a unique opportunity for members of these fields to interact at a single conference that is at the cutting edge of science.

All participants are encouraged to present posters. To promote junior scientists, the organizers will choose among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or junior faculty from the submitted poster abstracts to give short talks. As is our tradition, we will strive to provide a gender balanced and an ethnically and geographically diverse group of speakers in a congenial and friendly environment.

A central objective of this Biology of Aging Gordon Research Conference is to stimulate discussion of the interdependence of genetic, functional and environmental interactions in determining and potentially combating negative consequences of age-related changes and diseases. This includes investigations of structure and function that characterize normal aging and biochemical, genetic and physiological understanding of mechanisms of aging. Critically important for human wellbeing are investigations of the adverse changes that are risk factors, which contribute to or accompany age-related disease states in humans and animal models. Over the last several years a rudimentary understanding of some aging mechanisms have been generated. In organisms such as yeast, C. elegans and Drosophila, molecular genetic studies have defined many of the genes that determine life span and identification of which gene expression changes functionally associate with aging are underway. In rodents, many biochemical pathways strongly associate with aging and life span. These are now being confirmed and further studied using knockout and transgenic strategies. The insulin/insulin-like growth factor pathway appears to be an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that controls longevity and investigations into specific aspects of metabolism are revealing key effectors and potential targets. Thus, our field is continuing to mature as we develop a deeper understanding of aging mechanisms applicable across species and develop strategies to intervene in these processes in order to extend lifespan and health span.

The underlying goal of the program is to encourage participants to critically evaluate the latest insights into the aging process from the molecular to the whole organism, defining rational approaches to health span extension. There will be an emphasis upon aging at the integrative level and consideration of inflammation as a pleiotropic effector of the pathology associated with aging. Lifestyle, genetic, and pharmacological interventions will also form a significant element of the meeting program.

The 2009 Gordon Research Conference on Cell Growth and Proliferation will provide a forum for the discussion of the multiple cellular processes that contribute to cellular growth and division. Research at the forefront of our understanding of basic cell cycle processes including DNA replication, entry into, exit from and maintenance of mitosis and the various cell cycle checkpoints that restrain division when cell cycle events are disrupted wil be covered. In addition, the multiple signaling pathways that impact cellular growth will be discussed. Given the importance of unrestrained proliferation in carcinogenesis, significant time will also be devoted to consideration of how normal processes go awry during the development of cancers and how these cellular alterations promote tumorigenesis. Over the past several decades, dramatic progress in all of these areas has resulted from the cross-fertilization of ideas and observations made in multiple model systems (e.g. yeast, Xenopus, mammalian tissue culture models, flies, mice). Accordingly, a diverse group of international researchers working in multiple systems will attend the meeting to discuss their latest findings. Meeting attendees will be encouraged to contribute to these discussions and to present posters. In addition, short talk presenters will be selected from submitted abstracts.