Gordon Research Conference: 2009 Fertilization and the Activation of Development Gordon Research Conference, July 12-17, 2009 at Holderness School, Holderness, New Hampshire

在许多物种中，产生一个新的个体需要精子和卵子，即雄性和雌性配子的融合。这一关键事件被称为受精，涉及细胞过程，如分化、运动、信息交换、识别、融合和发育，这些都是现代生物学的核心。这是一个激动人心的时刻，在受精和早期发育领域举行会议，因为配子生理学的一些基本概念正在修订。第十七届戈登研究会议（GRC）施肥和激活的发展将提供一个论坛，介绍和讨论新的发展和想法，在这个令人兴奋的，迅速推进的领域。这是唯一一个与配子相互作用有关的GRC，配子相互作用导致受精和激活受精卵的重要过程，从而开始胚胎形成的过程。 它提供了一个良好的氛围，促进了生物化学家，细胞生物学家，分子生物学家，生理学家，遗传学家和生物制药学家在该领域的工作之间的丰富的互动。 这次会议非常成功地促进了具有广泛经验和资历的科学家之间的合作，以及我国和欧洲、日本、澳大利亚和拉丁美洲的研究实验室之间的合作。 这些合作取得了许多丰硕成果。自1974年以来，该领域的研究人员，博士后研究员和学生不断参加这次会议;当被问及时，许多人表示“这是该领域最好的会议”。关于受精所涉及的分子机制的基本概念和见解来自会议的形式所促进的会议和个人讨论。毫无疑问，这些知识最终会影响生殖和人类福祉的临床问题。

Generating a new individual in many species requires the fusion of sperm and egg, the male and female gametes. This crucial event, called fertilization, involves cellular processes such as differentiation, motility, information exchange, recognition, fusion and development that lay at the heart of modern biology. This is an exciting time to hold a conference in the field of fertilization and early development as some basic concepts in gamete physiology are being revised. The seventeenth Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on fertilization and the activation of development will provide a forum for presentation and discussion of new developments and ideas in this exciting, rapidly advancing field. This is the only GRC concerned with gamete interaction leading to the vital process of fertilization and activation of the fertilized egg to begin the process of embryo formation. It provides an excellent atmosphere that promotes rich interactions amongst biochemists, cell biologists, molecular biologists, physiologists, geneticists, and biophysicists working in the field. This conference has been singularly successful in fostering collaborations among scientists with widely disparate experience and seniority and, among research laboratories in this country and in Europe, Japan, Australia and Latin America. These collaborations have led to many fruitful results. Since 1974, researchers, postdoctoral fellows and students from the field keep attending this conference; when asked, many indicate "it is the best conference in the field". Fundamental concepts and insights about the molecular mechanisms involved in fertilization come out of the sessions and individual discussions that the format of this meeting promotes. Without doubt, this knowledge eventually impacts clinical issues in reproduction and human well-being.