9423342 Payne The American Academy of Microbiology will convene a colloquium of leading scientists to deliberate on one of the most difficult challenges facing research in the United States: identification of the most promising research areas in microbiology, particularly those that offer the greatest potential form long-term benefits and opportunities. A white paper report will be prepared to disseminate this in-depth set of analyses and recommendations to the broad microbiological community, to industry, to policy makers who have concerns about microbiological research and to appropriate federal agencies. The final report will also be made available to the lay public. Microbiology has contributed significantly to more productive agriculture, to sustaining the quality of the environment and to improving human health. With modern technological advances, the field is now positioned to provide the public with optimal return for its scientific research investment. The availability of powerful new analytical techniques--such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), development of DNA probes, gene insertion by transposons, scanning tunneling microscopy, and membrane-inlet mass spectrometry--enriches the prospects lying ahead in microbiology. However, as significant as research has been over the past decade, it is critical that the microbiological community identify those scientific areas that present the promise to solve our most critical problems in the environment, in development of alternative biodegradable materials, and in improving the human condition over the next decade. This Award is made by the NSF Directorate for Biosciences, funded jointly by the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the Division of Environmental Biology. %%% The American Academy of Microbiology will convene a group of leading scientists from both academic and industrial pursuits to communicate to the group their vision of where the science in their areas is now and where it will go to in the fut ure. They will produce a document outlining where the exciting areas in microbiological research are that can be utilized for the benefit of humankind, and the understanding of how bacteria exploit their unique places in the world where they exist. This meeting will benefit governmental agencies that are interested in bacterial activities, scientists, and the general public. ***
