Dear colleagues,
Together with my Co-Chair, Professor John Wilson of Michigan State
University, East Lansing, MI, USA, I would like to alert you to the
next Gordon Research Conference on "Macromolecular Organization and
Cell Function." The conference will be held at Oxford University, UK,
Sept. 13-18, 1998. A Gordon Conference with this theme has been held
in alternate years since 1987.
The focus of the conference is on the functional organization of
cellular components, and the critical role of this organization in
metabolism and its regulation. Initially, much of the attention was
directed at enzymes, but this has greatly expanded over the years to
include nucleic acids (e.g., targeting of mRNAs, assembly of
complexes associated with transcription or translation), membranes,
organelles, and delicate structures such as the nuclear matrix and
cytoskeleton. Principles governing the assembly of such structures,
as well as mechanisms by which these assemblies might be changed in
response to altered metabolic or hormonal status, or by
pharmaceutical intervention, are central issues in this conference.
Conference participants have been especially sensitive to the fact
that much of this organization may be destroyed, or at least grossly
perturbed, when studies are performed in vitro. Thus, a persistent
feature in the conference has been the cautious extrapolation of in
vitro results to the in vivo condition, as well as development and
application of techniques that allow one to study cellular structure
and function in vivo. The result has been that this conference
traditionally brings together scientists with interests ranging from
biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology to theoretical
formalisms, quantitative modelling, biophysics, physics, and
(especially noninvasive) instrumentation. This truly
interdisciplinary nature has consistently led to broadly based
discussions and interactions which have been rated highly by those
in attendance.
We cordially invite you to participate in this next meeting.
Full details of the very exciting speaker list, and links to the
main GRC site (through whom applications to attend should be made),
can be found on the conference's Web site, which we would suggest
that you might bookmark:
http://gepasi.dbs.aber.ac.uk/grc98.html
Although we hope to have targeted known parties likely to be
interested in participating, we be pleased if you could alert any of
your other colleagues whose interests overlap those of the
Conference.
Kind regards and best wishes,
Douglas Kell.
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*Douglas B. Kell Phone: +44 1970 622334 *
*Edward Llwyd Building Fax: +44 1970 622354 *
*Institute of Biological Sciences *
*University of Wales, Email: dbk at aber.ac.uk *
*Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, U.K. http://gepasi.dbs.aber.ac.uk/home.htm *
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