? ? This proposal is to request support for a Keystone meeting entitled """"""""Reproduction: Advances and Challenges"""""""", which will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from February 20-25, 2007. Reproduction is a complicated process designed to diversify and strengthen the genetic complement of the offspring. Accordingly, the field of reproduction, which has spawned many important research areas such as stem cell biology, spans a wide spectrum of topics that greatly impact human health. This meeting will bring together leaders in the field of mammalian reproduction. The sessions will focus on critical molecular determinants of reproductive success in the context of hormonal, immunologic and genetic factors. Areas that will be covered include ovarian and testicular development and function together with gametogenesis. Additionally, placental and uterine biology will be highlighted as well as the mechanisms, including the actions of steroid hormones that coordinate the dialogue between embryonic and maternal cells, which culminates in implantation. The meeting will conclude by summarizing important new developments in the areas of immunology and epigenetic regulation of gene expression as related to reproductive processes. ? ? ? ?
