9600464 Mackie The 1996 FASEB Summer Research Conference on the Mechanisms of Maturation, Function and Decay in the Prokaryotic RNA World will be held at Copper Mountain, Colorado, June 30 - July 5, 1996. The principal aim of this conference is to encourage the participants who are investigating biological roles of RNAs in diverse prokaryotic organisms to address the key mechanistic and structure- function questions which will dominate the field in the coming years. The focus on mechanistic and structure-function problems is essential if the specific biological processes mediated by RNA-RNA and RNA protein interactions are to be thoroughly understood. %%% The meeting focus is timely in view of the immense diversity and current relevance of prokaryotic organisms as paradigms for translation, RNA processing, modification and decay, and their regulation. Moreover, recent advances in elucidating the structures of RNA and RNA-protein complexes by biophysical techniques are paralleling the rapid pace of purifying the enzymes and substrates involved in RNA maturation, translation and decay. Accordingly, presentations and discussions at the conference will focus on RNA-RNA and RNA- protein interactions, formulation of mechanistic questions, and the development of new experimental approaches to understanding the structural basis for the biological functions of these interactions. In turn, this conference will serve to spur future mechanism-centered experimentation on these diverse systems. Attendance at the conference will be limited to 155 participants. The speakers will be invited from among the most productive and innovative individuals in the field. Time has also been allotted to permit several selected outstanding younger scientists including junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students to give oral presentations. The format at this conference has been chosen to allow a good balance between the two 3 hour oral sessions eac h day and free afternoon time for discussions and posters. Moreover, each participant is expected to attend the entire conference. The organizers are encouraging speakers to avoid presentations of previously published work but to focus on ongoing research, problem areas, and emerging models. It is the expectation of the organizers that this theme will encourage provocative presentations, lively discussion and will accordingly focus each participant's future research. ***
