The Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) has been organizing annual meetings since its foundation in 1939, missing only two during the WW II. These meetings have always been considered the major worldwide event where the latest discoveries in the field of developmental biology are presented. In 2007, together with the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology and the Sociedad Mexicana de Biologia del Desarrollo, SDB will organize the First Pan American Congress in Developmental Biology at Gran Melia Hotel, Cancun, Mexico. The time is now ripe to hold this first congress after many years of SDB's outreach and collaboration to enhance the understanding and research in the field in this hemisphere. The 43 invited speakers will report their most exciting findings in three plenary and six concurrent sessions, covering topics from early development of the plant and animal embryo to patterning of the nervous system and reproduction. Forty additional speakers, mostly junior investigators, have been chosen from submitted abstracts for short talks in the concurrent sessions and the postdoctoral symposium. All other registrants will present their recent results in poster sessions. Since education is a major emphasis in SDB's mission, a symposium on communicating science without the jargon, workshops on writing a scientific paper, on choosing of the most appropriate postdoctoral training and on funding opportunities are included in the program. Underrepresented minority students, postdoctoral fellows, as well as faculty from primarily teaching departments or undergraduate institutions will receive travel assistance to present their papers at the meeting. This First Pan American Congress follows SDB annual meetings' tradition to provide a collegial atmosphere for the participants to not only disseminate their new scientific findings, but also to forge future trainings or collaborations.