Funds are requested to support the travel of speakers invited to the 50th annual symposium of the Society for Developmental Biology. This year's symposium is organized by Allan Spradling, current President of the Society, on the subject of "Evolutionary Conservation of Developmental Mechanisms". Each session will focus on a particular developmental process as studied in a phylogenetically diverse group of organisms. Sessions will focus on changes in genome structure, stem cell maintenance, sex determination, signal transduction and pattern formation. It is hoped that underlying mechanisms that have been widely utilized throughout the course of evolution will be revealed. The meeting is usually of medium-size (300-400 registrants) with a single platform session held at a time (25-30 speakers total), and with 60-80 posters. It is attended by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and senior researchers. All speakers have been requested to prepare summaries of their presentations of publication in the annual symposium volume.
