Five years ago the University of California's Bodega Marine Laboratory instituted a series of colloquia, during which experts in timely fields were assembled for an exchange of ideas on current research and to participate in extensive public discussions on the topic of the colloquium. The colloquia are widely advertised and have been well attended by participants from all over the world. This proposal is for partial support for the fifth colloquium in this series. Previous colloquia have been published, a practice which the organizers of the proposed one intend to continue. We will assemble many of the world leaders whose research focuses on the stabilization of macromolecules under a variety of conditions. The focus of the meeting is specifically on "compatible solutes" and their roles in stabilization. The speakers are chosen from far-flung fields, including food science, biochemistry, biophysics, animal and plant physiology, physics and chemistry. Because this subject has clear applications in "the real world", participants from industry and Federal government are included in the program. Being an interdisciplinary meeting, many of the participants have never met and may not even be aware of each other's work. It is unlikely that the scientists chosen to participate in this colloquium would be assembled at a regular scientific meeting. Thus, a major aim is to generate discussion and interaction that would not likely otherwise occur, on a topic of basic and applied importance.
