Experimental Biology 2003 meets in San Diego April 11-15

Translating the Genome

The six sponsoring societies for Experimental Biology 2003 are: American Association of Anatomists, The American Physiological Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Society for Investigative Pathology, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Eleven guest societies from across the world, including the Association of Latin American Physiological Societies, the Biomedical Engineering Society and the Society for International Nutrition Research, represent an even broader range of interests and collaboration.

Once again, Experimental Biology 2003 returns to the theme "Translating the Genome" -- referring to the rapidly expanding ability of scientists to translate the map of all human genes into new approaches to understanding, treating and preventing diseases. Whatever their field, whether basic scientists working in the lab or clinical researchers working with patients, scientists come to Experimental Biology because of shared interests in genetic and other processes underlying human development, health and disease. They also come for the unparalleled opportunity to step outside the boundaries of their own fields and share information with scientists armed with the viewpoint and tools of entirely different disciplines.

For five days, scientists -- and reporters covering the meeting -- can choose among thousands of scientific presentations in poster sessions, lectures and symposia. The diversity of topics can be seen in this small sampling:

The American Association of Anatomists (AAA) offers symposia on advances in repairing or regenerating dead or dying cells, such as those in cardiac and skeletal muscles; the myelin that sheathes nerves; and, through genetic manipulation of the body's own stem cells, the brain and nervous system. Other AAA scientists will report on topics ranging from the neural control of ejaculation to the neurobiology of rehabilitation medicine to the effects of aluminum on cellular physiological processes related to Alzheimer's and other diseases.

The American Physiological Society (APS) offers a series of programs on the effects of oxidative and nitrosative stress on cardiovascular, pulmonary and other diseases. Oxidative stress occurs in response to an excess of free radicals or deficit of antioxidants (the reason many people take antioxidant vitamins). Nitrosative stress refers to the negative effects of the body's high reactivity to nitric oxide.

Other examples of APS presentations include transgenic models of heart failure therapeutics, physiology of high altitude decompression sickness, and why brain remodeling underlies the success of behavioral therapies for motor dysfunction.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) program includes a talk by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health. Other talks are by scientists being honored for their work in areas such as the virus assembly of HIV-1 and the bacterial pathogenesis of the plague or "black death." ASBMB thematic meetings focus on topics such as glycobiology (the complex roles of various naturally occurring sugars); pathways and regulation of metabolism, including symposia on novel signaling pathways involved in leptin action and regulation of energy balance and novel mechanisms for insulin resistance; and how the rapidly emerging fields of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics contribute to our understanding of cardiopulmonary and other diseases.

The American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) will hold a session on environmental toxicology. One presentation focuses on the Sept. 11 World Trade Center Disaster and the potential for long-term health effects in highly exposed individuals, from residents to rescue and cleanup workers. Another presentation concerns the severe immediate as well as more long-term pulmonary and cardiovascular health outcomes associated with surprisingly low levels of air pollution. Yet another presentation looks at the possibility that air pollutants also play a crucial role in the development, beginning early in life, of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's.

Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt will discuss possible mechanisms that cause cancer and one of ASIP's award winners will talk specifically about a new breast cancer discovery. �Another award winner will be speaking about a link between cardiovascular disease and viral infection.

Other ASIP sessions will report on stem cells, liver cancer and lung injury.

The American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) once again offers two popular controversial sessions, one on infectobesity (obesity of infectious origin) and one on dietary reference intakes. Numerous other ASNS sessions report advances in topics such as diet in cancer; nutrigenetics/nutrigenomics; nutrition and exercise; nutrition, host defense and infectious diseases; cognitive function and nutrition; challenges to optimizing bone health in infants and children; aging and nutrition; functional foods and herbal dietary supplements; and at least a dozen presentations on the metabolism of individual vitamins and minerals, from B to zinc.

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) program includes a session on the trophic effects of estrogen in the brain: protection for memory, aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Other ASPET sessions report research about the actions of hallucinogens and atypical antipsychotic drugs at serotonin receptors; pharmacological actions and interactions between endogenous brain cannabinoid and opioid systems; and mechanisms and implications for therapy of behavioral hyperactivity, Huntington's Disease, parkinsonism, and schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric diseases. A special symposium on diseases of aging beginning on Thursday focuses on stroke, from bench to bedside.

In other Experimental Biology 2003 events, postdoctoral and graduate students can take a break from 14-hour-a day science or job-hunting in the placement service by joining a Y.E.S. (Young Experimental Scientists) social mixer. All societies sponsor sessions on new advances in technology or teaching innovations of their specific field, as well as career development lectures like ASBMB's "myths and realities on being a new faculty member," APS's "career opportunities for physiologists in the drug discovery process," and ASIP's mentoring luncheon on "Dancing with Journals: a Guide to Submission and Revision." A number of Experimental Biology sessions focus on challenges and opportunities for women, racial/ethnic minorities, and others who have been traditionally underrepresented in science.

More than 350 companies are expected to participate in an exposition of scientific equipment, supplies and publications, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 12, through Monday, April 14.

Experimental Biology 2003 will be held at the San Diego Convention Center. Go to http://www.faseb.org for more information on press registration and meeting information, or email Sarah Goodwin at [email protected].