Experimental Biology 2002, Translating the Genome

More than 14,000 biomedical researchers will gather in New Orleans April 20-24 for Experimental Biology 2002. Now in its eleventh year, the annual meeting brings together scientists from dozens of scientific disciplines and countries to present the newest scientific concepts and discoveries expected to shape future medical advances.

Whatever their fields of study, whether basic science or clinical research, scientists come to Experimental Biology meetings because of a shared interest in the processes underlying human development, function, aging, and the way diseases develop and can be treated or prevented. The size, scope and organization of the meeting give these scientists an unparalleled opportunity to step outside the boundaries of their own fields. They share information with scientists armed with the viewpoint and tools of entirely different disciplines.

The seven sponsoring societies for Experimental Biology 2002 are: The American Physiological Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Society for Investigative Pathology, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, The American Association of Immunologists and American Association of Anatomists. Twenty-four guest societies from across the world, from the American Association of Veterinary Anatomists to the Spanish Physiological Society, represent an even broader range of interests and collaboration.

The theme for Experimental Biology 2002 is "Translating the Genome." Recent advances in decoding the human genome, the complete set of genes in the human body, have given scientists in all fields a new tool in understanding how human beings function and develop or respond to disease. Experimental Biology 2002 gives them a chance to share their findings and perspectives.

For five days, scientists can choose among thousands of scientific presentations in poster sessions, lectures and symposia. The diversity of topics can be seen in a small sampling of topics being covered at the meeting:

The American Physiological Society will use the meeting's human genome theme to discuss the neurobiology of obesity, including gene-environment interactions and the promise for therapeutic intervention in obesity. Other symposia include cell death and organ injury mechanisms in hypertension; genetic adaptation to cold; and the ability of estrogen to protect against brain and nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology begins Experimental Biology 2002 with satellite meetings on April 19-20, focusing on such topics as scientific and technical challenges in the Human Proteome. (The proteome is a "map" of all the proteins encoded by genes, and is considered the logical next step now that science has made so much progress on mapping the genes themselves.) Symposia topics include cellular control, gene regulation and proteomics (analysis of the cell's proteins, the products of gene expression that serve as life's basic building blocks and carry out all bodily functions) and drug discovery.

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics offers hundreds of sessions on the latest advances in therapeutics, including how pharmacology meets the human genome; pharmacogenetics and epidemiology, advances in understanding transport of drugs and toxic substances, treatment of pain, and how drugs or toxic substances particularly effect people with diabetes.

The American Society for Investigative Pathology has symposia on cancer research in the post-genomic era; genomic and proteomic approaches to cancer detection and molecular therapy; atherosclerosis; new understandings of how pathogens like viruses and bacteria work and how these also could be used in therapy; mechanisms of how alcohol abuse causes and/or enhances injury in liver, muscles, lung and other tissues.

The American Society for Nutritional Sciences offers sessions on specific foods (nuts in a healthful diet for example) and vitamins, minerals, sugars, fats and other nutrients and micronutrients. It also focuses on topics such as fetal origins of adult disease; human milk and lactation, maternal and infant nutrition; aging and chronic disease; diet and cancer; bioactive compounds in food; and the challenges of feeding the world in the coming decades.

The American Association of Immunologists has topics related to the genome, such as genetic manipulation of the immune system and genetics and genomics of automimune disease. The society also looks at other contemporary topics in immunology, including immunologic memory (the underlying principle of vaccines, for example), immune defects in HIV disease, immunotherapy of cancer, and immune tolerance (an important issue in organ transplantation, for example).

The American Association of Anatomists offers topics including angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels, and of interest in cancer as well as heart research), the therapeutic potential of different types of stem cells in spinal cord injury, how sex hormones affect the developing brain, the effect on gastrointestinal disease of the enteric nervous system (the nervous system that drives the GI system) and its effect on gut diseases, and mechanisms of craniofacial bone growth.

In other Experimental Biology 2002 events, a new public policy symposium will bring national leaders to discuss science policy implications of bioterrorism from governmental, public health and scientific perspectives. Many of the societies sponsor sessions that focus on challenges and opportunities for women scientists or scientists who are minorities, including a multi-society symposium on using genomics to help solve problems related to diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations. Scientists also have the opportunity to see the newest advances in technology, both in key papers and in an exposition of scientific equipment, supplies and publications that will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Go to http://www.faseb.org for more information on press registration and meeting information, or email Sarah Goodwin at [email protected].