Conference: Conference Support for Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin XXI Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts October 2012

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The development of a fertilized egg into a fully-grown person relies on a basic toolkit of genes that are conserved in all animals. Identifying the components of the toolkit and understanding their function is not only essential for understanding human development, but also for understanding the diversity of body forms we find in nature. Humans share many genes with sea urchins, including those that turn on and off during embryonic development. Sea urchins, along with starfish, sea squirts and other marine invertebrates are therefore powerful models for studying development, because their embryos rapidly develop outside the mother, and also because they are closely related to vertebrates and humans. This conference brings together an international group of scientists and students that use sea urchins, sea stars and other invertebrates to study the basic mechanics and evolution of development. This conference brings together investigators applying cutting edge genomic, bioinformatic and imaging approaches to share their findings in a small meeting format. The meeting also provides opportunities for junior faculty and students to present their findings, with 60% of speaking slots offered to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and funds will be used to support the participation of these scientists in training. Lastly, sea urchin embryos provide a powerful educational tool, and the conference supports the travel of faculty and their students from primarily undergraduate institutions We will host a panel session on the use of these organisms in K-12 and undergraduate education. In summary, this award will not only support a small but vibrant community of scientists dedicated to understanding one of the most complex problems in biology, 'How does an egg develop into a human? but will also foster the next generation of developmental biologists. as well as supporting faculty and undergraduates from primarily undergraduate institutions.