The third Genetic Effects on Aging meeting will be held at the Jackson Laboratory (TJL) with speakers and participants asked to arrive Sat. PM August 5, and end Thurs. noon, August 10, 2000. This meeting is unique in its emphasis on genes that regulate basic mechanisms affecting aging and life spans, rather than on genes that control vulnerability to specific diseases. The focus is on a comparative genomic approach to identifying genes that increase life spans in multiple biological organisms, and suggest basic mechanisms of aging, with the central theme of suggesting research directions in the laboratory mouse as a genetic model system. The mouse is widely considered the premiere experimental organism for genetic studies that have implications, often direct, for clinical applications in human beings. The intent of this meeting is to bring together students and established investigators with varying expertise and experience in a wide variety of model organisms. They will discuss their research findings and suggest future research in the mouse and ultimately in the clinic. The meeting will feature a novel format, well proven in previous meetings at TJL. In morning and evening sessions, invited speakers will present background, raise important scientific issues and discuss groundbreaking work in the genetic regulation of life span and aging. Interspersed appropriately among these longer talks will be shorter presentations to be chosen from submitted abstracts. These will be selected to illustrate and examine in more detail principles developed in the overviews. Work-shop sessions will include 1) a discussion of requirements for genetics of aging in mice, including the various genetic tools and potential experiments, details on controlling environments, etc., 2) informatics demonstrations addressing issues useful in genetic comparisons of aging in multiple species. Postdoctoral and graduate students, research associates and junior faculty are encouraged to attend; their applications will be specifically solicited and some funds for their travel expenses are requested in this application. This meeting is indeed unique in both focus and format.
