Comments on the International Symposium on Light,Endocrine Systems and Cancer

A conference was held at the University of Cologne on May 2-3, 2002, to discuss the strength-of-the-evidence supporting a linkage between light, endocrine systems and cancer. This overview of the conference is intended to summarize some of the key elements of the conference and to indicate both conclusions and research gaps identified by this reviewer.     

Selected papers from the Fourth Annual q-bio Conference on Cellular Information Processing

This special issue consists of 11 original papers that elaborate on work presented at the Fourth Annual q-bio Conference on Cellular Information Processing, which was held on the campus of St John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, 11-14 August 2010. Now in its fourth year, the q-bio conference has changed considerably over time. It is now well established and a major event in systems biology. The 2010 conference saw attendees from all continents (except Antarctica!) sharing novel results and participating in lively discussions at both the oral and poster sessions. The conference was oversubscribed and grew to 27 contributed talks, 16 poster spotlights and 137 contributed posters. We deliberately decreased the number of invited speakers to 21 to leave more space for contributed presentations, and the attendee feedback confirmed that the choice was a success. Although the q-bio conference has grown and matured, it has remained true to the original goal of being an intimate and dynamic event that brings together modeling, theory and quantitative experimentation for the study of cell regulation and information processing. Funded in part by a grant from NIGMS and by DOE funds through the Los Alamos National Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, the conference has continued to exhibit youth and vigor by attracting (and partially supporting) over 100 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers. The associated q-bio summer school, which precedes the conference each year, further emphasizes the development of junior scientists and makes q-bio a singular event in its impact on the future of quantitative biology. In addition to an increased international presence, the conference has notably diversified its demographic representation within the USA, including increased participation from the southeastern corner of the country. One big change in the conference this year is our new publication partner, Physical Biology. Although we are very grateful to our previous partner, IET Systems Biology, for their help over the years in publicizing the work presented at the conference, we felt that the changing needs of our participants required that we find a new partner. We are thrilled that Physical Biology is publishing the q-bio proceedings this year. It has been a great collaboration, as evidenced by the high quality of this special issue. What's next for q-bio? We are happy to report that NIGMS has recently extended the q-bio conference grant for the next three years, ensuring strong support for junior researchers who need financial assistance to participate in the event. The conference will retain its emphasis on cellular information processing, but will also build connections to other areas of modern biology and biotechnology, focusing specifically on ecology and evolutionary biology next year. Indeed, to fully understand biological information processing systems, they must be studied in their ecological contexts. We will continue to honor distinguished contributors to the field in our opening banquets; the tradition started with Howard Berg, Bruce Alberts and Michael Savageau in previous years, and continues with Dennis Bray at the upcoming 2011 event. Starting in 2011, the conference will also venture into exploration of the social aspects of science. The future is bright for q-bio! We will see you at the Fifth Annual q-bio Conference on 10-13 August 2011, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA and at the Sixth Annual q-bio Conference in early August 2012.     

Problems of the Computerization of Learning

On 6-9 May 1985, an international conference on "Children in the information age," organized by the State Committee on Science and Technical Progress of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, was held in Varna, Bulgaria. Among the participants were [representatives of] the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Austria), UNESCO, the International Fund of Ludmila Zhivkova (People's Republic of Bulgaria), and the World Health Organization. The purpose of the conference was to exchange experience on current problems in the computerization of learning, computer literacy, and information sciences in schools. About two hundred scientists from 45 different countries took part in the conference. The results of studies of methodological, psychological, pedagogical, physiological, and technical aspects of the problem of computerization of learning were discussed at plenary and workshop sessions. In addition, a special exhibit acquainted people with modern computer teaching devices, microprocessor teaching technology, dialogue teaching systems, logical and algorithmic games, programs, etc.     

Computational models in systems biology

A report of the 6th International Conference on Computational Methods in Systems Biology, Rostock, Germany, 12-15 October 2008.One of the chief goals of systems biology is to build mechanistic mathematical models of biological systems to further the understanding of biological detail. Such models often aim at predicting the outcome of potentially interesting biological experiments, and if such predictions are confirmed by wet-lab observations, an important step forward is made. How exactly such models are constructed and how predictions are computed were at the core of a recent conference on Computational Methods in Systems Biology that brought 80 participants to Rostock, Germany (for conference proceedings see volume 5307 of Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88562-7).A simplistic approach to model construction might be to capture everything that is known about a system and simulate it in supercomputers. While this is appropriate for some systems, it is impossible or highly impracticable for many others. This is mostly due to the complexity of biological systems, which demand simplification to make them amenable to modeling. Such simplifications have to capture the essence of the processes of interest, while neglecting as many of the less important details as possible. Thus, one can consider model building in systems biology as the art of building caricatures of life: capture the essence, ignore the rest.     

Probiotics: from bench to market

"Probiotics: From Bench to Market" was a one-day conference convened by the New York Academy of Sciences on June 11, 2010, with the goal of stimulating discussion of the physiological effects of probiotics on the gastrointestinal, nervous, and immune systems. The program included speakers from academia, industry, and government to give conference participants a full understanding of the state of the field of probiotics. The overall goal of the program was to increase communication and collaboration among these groups to advance probiotic research and probiotic contributions to public health. The conference was divided into three sessions and included both oral and visual presentations as well as panel discussions.     

Meeting Report: EMBL Conference - Omics and Personalized Medicine: February 16-18, 2012, Heidelberg, Germany

The first EMBL conference on "Omics and Personalized Medicine", jointly organized by Rudi Balling (LCSB, Luxembourg), Leroy Hood, Wolfgang Huber (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany) and Lars Steinmetz (EMBL) addresses the potential and challenges of translating systems biology research into the clinic. This meeting report provides a highlight of the conference, covering not only the science, but also social and legal issues.     

Signal peptide cleavage site prediction

A series of reports - and extracts of reports - from the Freedom of Information Conference, 6-7 July, 2000, New York Academy of Medicine. The conference was sponsored by BioMed Central, to promote debate about the communication and validation of biomedical research published on the internet. Details of the meeting and all presentations are available in full online at http://biomedcentral.com/info/conference.asp

     

Crop biotechnology. Where now?

Nature Biotechnology organized a conference in London on Agobiotech 99: Biotechnology and World Agriculture (November 14-16, 1999). The conference focused entirely on crop biotechnology and covered both societal and scientific aspects. Below is an account of the more important issues raised by the speakers and the audience.     

Satellite and stem cells in muscle growth and repair

The FASEB summer research conference on Skeletal Muscle Satellite and Stem Cells, organized by Thomas Rando, Giulio Cossu and Jeffrey Chamberlain, was held in Indian Wells, California, in July. An international array of researchers gathered to share numerous new insights into the cellular and molecular regulation of stem cells and satellite cells in skeletal muscle biology. The conference is unique in that it brings together investigators from diverse backgrounds, who work on the growth and repair of skeletal muscle in humans and model systems, in health and disease.     

Highlights from the 2010 BAS/BSCR spring meeting: New Frontiers in Cardiovascular Research

The British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS)/British Society for Cardiovascular Research (BSCR) spring meeting was held in Manchester, UK, on 7-8 June 2010. Experts in the field of systems biology, proteomics, metabolomics and miRNAs presented how these techniques can be used to discover 'New Frontiers in Cardiovascular Research'. The conference was attended by over 150 participants, mainly from the UK. A total of 2 days of presentations and a poster session with 55 posters provided the possibility to discuss the latest research results and showed the opportunities that new techniques can offer in cardiovascular research.     

The diversity of organelle protein import mechanisms

It was once believed that common mechanisms underpin the transfer of proteins across the membrane systems of organelles such as mitochondria, chloroplasts and peroxisomes. Now that many of the core components of the translocases have been indentified, results discussed at a recent conference [Max-Delbrück-Centrum Symposium "Protein Transport and Stability"; Berlin, Germany; 21-26 March 2001. Organized by Thomas Sommer and Enno Hartmann.] stress just how diverse the mechanisms of transport into these organelles really are.     

Antibodies targeting G protein-coupled receptors: Recent advances and therapeutic challenges

Le STUDIUM conference was held November 24–25, 2016 in Tours, France as a satellite workshop of the 5^th meeting of the French GDR 3545 on “G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) -From Physiology to Drugs,” which was held in Tours during November 22–24, 2016. The conference gathered speakers from academia and industry considered to be world leaders in the molecular pharmacology and signaling of GPCRs, with a particular interest in the development of therapeutic GPCR antibodies (Abs). The main topics were new advances and challenges in the development of antibodies targeting GPCRs and their potential applications to the study of the structure and function of GPCRs, as well as their implication in physiology and pathophysiology. The conference included 2 sessions, with the first dedicated to the recent advances in methodological strategies used for GPCR immunization using thermo-stabilized and purified GPCRs, and the development of various formats of Abs such as monoclonal IgG, single-chain variable fragments and nanobodies (Nbs) by in vitro and in silico approaches. The second session focused on GPCR Nbs as a “hot” field of research on GPCRs. This session started with discussion of the pioneering Nbs developed against GPCRs and their application to structural studies, then transitioned to talks on original ex vivo and in vivo studies on GPCR-selective Nbs showing promising therapeutic applications of Nbs in important physiologic systems, such as the central nervous and the immune systems, as well as in cancer. The conference ended with the consensus that Abs and especially Nbs are opening a new era of research on GPCR structure, pharmacology and pathophysiology.     

Aneuploidy Approaching a Perfect Score in Predicting and Preventing Cancer: Highlights from a Conference Held in Oakland,CA in January, 2004

On January 23-26, 2004, a meeting, termed the 1st Conference on Aneuploidy and Cancer: Clinical and Experimental Aspects, united about 70 cancer researchers at the Waterfront Plaza Hotel in Oakland. The conference was organized by two of us (P.D. and D.R.) to evaluate the theory that aneuploidy is sufficient to cause cancer. The abstracts or short papers of the participants are recorded in the Scientific Program & Abstracts booklet of the conference, which is available on request from the conference bureau via email: ssachs@uclink.berkeley.edu. An independent meeting report has since also been published in The Scientist 1.     

Mechanisms and variation in plant development: sorting the wood from the trees in Vermont

The biannual FASEB summer research conference ;Mechanisms in Plant Development' was recently held in Saxtons River, Vermont and was organised by Neelima Sinha and Cris Kuhlemeier. Although most of the work discussed at the meeting concentrated on developmental mechanisms and on studies in Arabidopsis and maize, the meeting also emphasised the importance of variation between species and the elaboration of a broader range of model systems.     

Systems Dynamics in Endocytosis

The endocytic system acts at the crossroads of different cellular activities to play a central role in the regulation of cell signaling and membrane dynamics. An European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) conference held in October 2013 in Villars‐sur‐Ollon gathered researchers from all over the world to present their latest findings on the endolysosomal system and identify major challenges for the future. The conference covered the entire spectrum of research in this rapidly evolving field ranging from the cellular mechanics of endocytosis to the role of proteins and lipids in the biogenesis and function of endolysosomal organelles and the analysis of higher order system properties in multicellular contexts. In particular, the meeting highlighted current efforts to complement the insights that can be gained by biochemical and cell biological approaches with the use of quantitative biophysics, systems biology and animal model systems to achieve an integrated view of the properties of the endomembrane system and its role in cellular information processing.     

Meeting report: Signal transduction meets systems biology

ABSTRACT: In the 21st century, systems-wide analyses of biological processes are getting more and more realistic. Especially for the in depth analysis of signal transduction pathways and networks, various approaches of systems biology are now successfully used. The EU FP7 large integrated project SYBILLA (Systems Biology of T-cell Activation in Health and Disease) coordinates such an endeavor. By using a combination of experimental data sets and computational modelling, the consortium strives for gaining a detailed and mechanistic understanding of signal transduction processes that govern T-cell activation. In order to foster the interaction between systems biologists and experimentally working groups, SYBILLA co-organized the 15th meeting "Signal Transduction: Receptors, Mediators and Genes" together with the Signal Transduction Society (STS). Thus, the annual STS conference, held from November 7 to 9, 2011 in Weimar, Germany, provided an interdisciplinary forum for research on signal transduction with a major focus on systems biology addressing signalling events in T-cells. Here we report on a selection of ongoing projects of SYBILLA and how they were discussed at this interdisciplinary conference.     

Potential use of inflammation and early immunological event biomarkers in assessing vaccine safety

Highly effective vaccines have traditionally been designed in a rather empirical way, often with incomplete understanding of their mode of action. Full assessment of efficacy and reactogenicity takes time and, as a result, vaccine introduction to the market is usually slow and expensive. In addition, in rare cases, unacceptable reactogenicity may only become apparent after years of development or even widespread use. However, recent advances in cell biology and immunology offer a range of new technologies and systems for identifying biological responses or “biomarkers” that could possibly be used to evaluate and predict efficacy and safety during vaccine development and post-marketing surveillance.This report reflects the conclusions of a group of scientists from academia, regulatory agencies and industry who attended a conference on the potential use of biomarkers to assess vaccine safety which was held in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, from 10 to 11 May 2012 and organized by the International Association for Biologicals (IABS). The conference focused particularly on determining which biomarkers might relate to vaccine efficacy and reactogenicity and whether our knowledge base was sufficiently robust at this time for the data to be used for decision-making. More information on the conference output can be found on the IABS website, http://www.iabs.org/.