In the biomedical sciences, the next challenge beyond the genome is to define and understand complex functional networks that maintain biological systems throughout life. Ageing, which affects all organ systems, is inarguably the most complex phenotype that we know. Insight into the molecular and cellular targets of the aging process would offer the unprecedented opportunity to postpone and prevent some, if not all, of its deteriorative aspects by preventive and therapeutic means. Thus far, our understanding of the causes of aging is limited. To an important extent this is due to our inability, in the past, to study aging systems. Instead, ample information has been gathered about individual cellular components at various ages, but this has not allowed a clear understanding of the integrated genomic circuits that control mechanisms of aging, survival and stress responses. With the emergence of functional genomics, we finally have the opportunity to study aging the way it is supposed to be studied, i.e., in a comprehensive manner, as a systems approach, to study the dynamic network of genes that determines the physiology of an individual organism over time. While the first conference on Functional Genomics of Ageing has addressed new approaches to the genetics of aging, using advanced tools, such as high-throughput genotyping and microarrays, the second will be focused on the ageing phenome: the complete phenotypic representation of the ageing process as it takes places in each species. The conference will begin with an Opening Address by Dr. Paola Timiras who will introduce the aging phenome. Then, in his Keynote Lecture, Dr. Roger Brent will discuss new post-genomic opportunities to elucidate how individual system components interact, integrate and function, allowing us to model complex biological phenotypes, such as aging. This will be followed by three sessions on Comparative Biology of Aging, Phenotypes, Functional Pathways in Aging and Longevity, and Aging Systems. In between the sessions on aging per se, three sessions on emerging technology will specifically address new tools for analyzing phenotypes with a focus on novel approaches in proteomics and computational biology. There will be poster sessions with selected oral presentations, industry presentations, and a financial hardship program. ? ?
