Conference: Keystone Symposia Meeting on "RNA Silencing Mechanisms in Plants"; to be held February 21-26, 2010 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

学术价值：关于植物中RNA沉默机制的2010年Keystone研讨会将于2010年2月21-26日举行。这次会议将为致力于植物RNA沉默不同领域的科学家提供一个论坛，介绍他们的结果，并与该领域的其他专家进行讨论。植物已经进化出许多新的蛋白质，作用于各种RNA沉默途径(例如，在小RNA介导的表观遗传修饰中的Pol IV和Pol V)，因此最大限度地增加不同植物科学家之间信息交流的可能性是重要的。全面的会议计划将允许在RNA沉默的不同子领域之间进行交叉受精，并向来自行业的与会者提供关于当前研究及其在农业生物技术中的潜在应用的极好概述。参加的学生和博士后科学家将能够听到该领域的顶尖科学家的声音，并与之互动。他们将被鼓励展示海报，这是为当前和未来的职业活动与其他科学家建立网络和互动的最有效方式之一。此外，学生和博士后将被选中在几个课程中进行口头陈述。组织者致力于从学生和博士后群体中挑选不同的演讲者。广泛的影响：这次会议将通过让学生、博士后研究人员和研究人员了解该领域最先进的科学并为他们提供对自己努力的批判性科学反馈来加强教育。对于这些人来说，会议还将促进职业发展，包括看到成功的科学家介绍尖端科学的机会，以及与未来的导师和其他可能对他们的科学和专业发展做出贡献的人建立网络的机会。

Intellectual merit: The 2010 Keystone Symposium on RNA Silencing Mechanisms in Plants will be held February 21-26, 2010. The meeting will provide a forum for scientists working in different areas of RNA silencing in plants to present their results and to discuss with other experts in the field. Plants have evolved a number of novel proteins acting in various RNA silencing pathways (e.g., Pol IV and Pol V in small RNA-mediated epigenetic modifications) and it therefore is important to maximize the possibilities for information exchange among a diverse group of plant scientists. The comprehensive meeting program will allow cross-fertilization among various subfields of RNA silencing and give participants from industry an excellent overview of current research and its potential applications to agricultural biotechnology. Students and postdoctoral scientists that attend will be able to hear, and interact with, the top scientists in the field. They will be encouraged to present posters, which is one of the most effective ways to network and interact with other scientists for current and future career activities. Additionally, students and postdocs will be selected to deliver oral presentations during several sessions. The organizers are committed to selecting diverse speakers from among the student and postdoctoral pool.Broader impacts:This meeting will enhance education by acquainting students, postdoctoral researchers, and investigators new to field with state-of-the-art science in this area and by providing them with critical scientific feedback on their own efforts. For these individuals, the meeting will also promote career development by including opportunities both to see successful scientists presenting cutting-edge science and to network with prospective mentors and others who might contribute to their scientific and professional development.