Conference: 2007 Archaea Gordon Research Conference being held August 19-24, 2007 at Andover, New Hampshire

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

The existence of the Archaea as the third domain of life was discovered approximately 30 years ago. While Archaea share certain features with both the Eukarya and Bacteria they exhibit unique structural and metabolic adaptations that allow them to thrive under extreme conditions such as extremely high or low temperature, salt saturation conditions, and extremely high and low pH. In contrast to the Eukarya and Bacteria, Archaea are much less characterized. Gordon Research Conferences (GRCs) constitute the most prestigious conferences in all areas of life sciences. The purpose of the GRCs is to communicate and discuss ideas at the frontiers of science and technology. The GRC on Archaea has a long-standing history that began in 1984. Held in a two-year cycle, the archaeal GRC gathers leading scientists from all over the world, and it constitutes the most significant meeting on archaeal basic and applied research. Amongst the speakers for the 2007 conference ten are funded by NSF. The 2007 GRC program expands on a number of emerging topics highlighting the evolution and composition of microbial communities, novel archaeal species and archaeal viruses and their impact on the environment, archaeal metabolism, and research that stems from sequence analysis of archaeal genomes. The PI specifically requests support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to attend the 2007 Archaeal GRC. The goal is to expose young scientists to cutting-edge research, and to give them the opportunity to exchange ideas and make contacts in the formal and informal environment provided by the GRC site.