Basic Research for the Future: Opportunities in Microbiologyfor the Coming Decade, March 1-3, 1996 in Daytona Beach, FL

9423342佩恩美国微生物学会将召集顶尖科学家举行座谈会，讨论美国研究面临的最困难的挑战之一：确定微生物学中最有前途的研究领域，特别是那些从长期利益和机会中提供最大潜力的领域。将编写一份白皮书报告，将这套深入的分析和建议分发给广大微生物界、工业界、对微生物研究感到担忧的政策制定者和适当的联邦机构。最后报告亦会向业外人士提供。微生物学为提高农业产量、维持环境质量和改善人类健康作出了重大贡献。随着现代技术的进步，该领域现在的定位是为公众提供其科研投资的最佳回报。强大的新分析技术的出现--如聚合酶链式反应(PCR)、DNA探针的开发、转座子基因插入、扫描隧道显微镜和膜进样质谱仪--丰富了微生物学的前景。然而，尽管过去十年的研究意义重大，但至关重要的是，微生物界必须确定那些科学领域，这些领域有望解决我们在环境、替代生物可降解材料的开发以及在未来十年改善人类状况方面最关键的问题。该奖项由NSF生物科学局颁发，由分子和细胞生物科学部和环境生物学部联合资助。美国微生物学会将召集一群来自学术和工业领域的顶尖科学家，向他们传达他们对各自领域科学现在和未来发展方向的看法。他们将编写一份文件，概述微生物学研究中可用于造福人类的令人兴奋的领域在哪里，以及了解细菌如何利用它们在世界上存在的独特地方。这次会议将使对细菌活动感兴趣的政府机构、科学家和公众受益。***

9423342 Payne The American Academy of Microbiology will convene a colloquium of leading scientists to deliberate on one of the most difficult challenges facing research in the United States: identification of the most promising research areas in microbiology, particularly those that offer the greatest potential form long-term benefits and opportunities. A white paper report will be prepared to disseminate this in-depth set of analyses and recommendations to the broad microbiological community, to industry, to policy makers who have concerns about microbiological research and to appropriate federal agencies. The final report will also be made available to the lay public. Microbiology has contributed significantly to more productive agriculture, to sustaining the quality of the environment and to improving human health. With modern technological advances, the field is now positioned to provide the public with optimal return for its scientific research investment. The availability of powerful new analytical techniques--such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), development of DNA probes, gene insertion by transposons, scanning tunneling microscopy, and membrane-inlet mass spectrometry--enriches the prospects lying ahead in microbiology. However, as significant as research has been over the past decade, it is critical that the microbiological community identify those scientific areas that present the promise to solve our most critical problems in the environment, in development of alternative biodegradable materials, and in improving the human condition over the next decade. This Award is made by the NSF Directorate for Biosciences, funded jointly by the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the Division of Environmental Biology. %%% The American Academy of Microbiology will convene a group of leading scientists from both academic and industrial pursuits to communicate to the group their vision of where the science in their areas is now and where it will go to in the fut ure. They will produce a document outlining where the exciting areas in microbiological research are that can be utilized for the benefit of humankind, and the understanding of how bacteria exploit their unique places in the world where they exist. This meeting will benefit governmental agencies that are interested in bacterial activities, scientists, and the general public. ***