This meeting will focus on recent insights into the molecular mechanisms responsible for genome replication and for general and site specific recombination. Recent work has uncovered an impressive similarity between the mechanisms involved in recombination and replication, and between the pathways used for these DNA transactions in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This symposium will highlight the most recent findings in all of the most relevant areas, with special emphasis on those of high current interest and progress. These topics include: the initiation and termination of DNA replication; DNA-unwinding and strand transfer reactions; cell cycle control; fidelity mechanisms for genome duplication; site-specific recombination (including reactions involved in immunoglobulin gene rearrangements); and transposition (including retroviral integration). In addition to their fundamental importance, these topics are relevant to medical research in cancer, gene transfer and AIDS.
