The 2003 FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Genetic Recombination and Genomic Rearrangements" will be held July 26 through July 31 at Snowmass Village, Colorado, and will be the tenth of a highly successful series of bi-annual conferences on genetic recombination. These conferences join investigators studying many diverse aspects of genetic recombination in a range of biological systems and with different experimental approaches. Presentations will introduce new and unpublished work on timely questions in the field and will encourage discussion from all participants. Eight plenary sessions will involve topics such as recombination mechanisms, properties of prokaryotic and eukaryotic recombination, meiotic processes, the role of recombinational processes in repair of DNA damage, site-specific recombination and transposition, and genomic rearrangements. Over forty speakers, among the best experimentalists and thinkers in these particular areas, have agreed to present their most recent and unpublished work. Approximately 160 other participants will be chosen from among the applicants to the conference. While maintaining rigorous standards of excellence in selecting participants, every attention will be paid to achieving a balanced representation of age, gender, race and geography. All will be encouraged to participate in discussion, workshops and poster sessions. There will be a workshop on a controversial topic, the role of the Mus81 complexes in recombination intermediate processing. Two poster sessions, each lasting two days, will provide an additional forum for presentation of current work. By emphasizing truly exceptional research in a modestly sized conference setting, the FASEB conferences provide unique opportunities for the exchange of information, technology and perspective among new and established investigators in the recombination field. NSF funding will allow participants in need of financial support to attend this important conference. This group is expected to include new investigators, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The NSF support will ensure the future vitality of this important field of research.
