Conference: The Gordon Research on 2009 DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY; Proctor Academy, Andover, New Hampshire

发育生物学是生命科学的中心学科。它的目标是了解受精卵是如何生长并转化为成年生物体的。发育生物学家揭示了胚胎发生和模式形成的基本生物学过程，这些过程导致了1995年的诺贝尔奖。他们还研究器官的形成、神经系统以及性别是如何决定的。他们还发现了衰老的过程，以及细胞死亡是如何被编程来塑造有机体的(诺贝尔2002年)。发育生物学家也是第一个克隆动物的人。他们已经发现了microRNAs(这导致了2008年的Lasker奖)，并分析了其错误调控导致癌症的主要信号通路。发育生物学家还开发了重要的技术进步，从基因组操纵(诺贝尔2007年)到RNAi(2006年诺贝尔)和使用荧光蛋白的活体成像(2008年诺贝尔)。它们为干细胞生物学和组织工程学提供了基础，并为理解人类出生缺陷和疾病创造了背景。该领域的影响是使用各种技术和智力方法对整个生物体(而不是孤立的细胞)进行研究的结果。随着这些研究扩展到组织再生和系统生物学等新领域，未来几年有望做出重大贡献。因此，发育生物学是生命科学的核心学科，正在改变医学科学。超过120名发育生物学家将于6月21日至26日在戈登研究会议上开会，讨论该领域的最新进展并交流意见。会议将包括少数群体和很大比例的妇女，这反映了他们在实地的高代表性。会议的重点是邀请一些年轻的发言者，并避免重复以前在同一领域举行的会议。

Developmental Biology is at the center of the Life Sciences. Its goal is to understand how the fertilized egg grows and is transformed into an adult organism. Developmental biologists have uncovered the basic biological processes of embryogenesis and pattern formation that led to the Nobel Prize awarded in 1995. They also study the formation of organs, of the nervous system and how sex is determined. They have also discovered the process of aging and how cell death can be programmed to shape an organism (Nobel 2002). Developmental biologists were also the first to clone animals. They have discovered microRNAs (that led to the Lasker award in 2008) and have analyzed the major signaling pathways whose mis-regulation leads to cancer. Developmental biologists have also developed important technological advances, from genome manipulation (Nobel 2007) to RNAi (Nobel 2006) and in vivo imaging using fluorescent proteins (Nobel 2008). They have provided the foundations for stem cell biology and tissue engineering and have created the context to understand human birth defects and disease. The impact of the field is a result of the study of whole organisms (rather than isolated cells) using a wide variety of technological and intellectual approaches. As these studies expand into new areas such as tissue regeneration and systems biology, major contributions can be expected in the coming years. Developmental Biology is thus a core discipline of the Life Sciences and is transforming the Medical Sciences. Over 120 developmental biologists will meet on June 21-26 at the Gordon Research Conference to discuss recent progress in the field and exchange ideas. The conference will include minorities and a large proportion of women that reflects their high representation in the field. Emphasis was given to inviting a number of young speakers and to avoid repeats of previous conferences held in the same field.