2009 Plant Metabolic Engineering Gordon Research Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More than 200,000 individual chemical entities or Natural Products from plants have been identified. Given the multiplicity of chiral centers, elaboration with modifying substituents and the important roles these compounds mediate between plants and the environment, plant natural products have served well in the design and development of approximately two-thirds of all the drugs used by mankind. The post-genomic era now presents new opportunities for manipulating plant chemistry that will further impact the level and nutritional content of the global food supply and lead to new biological sources of novel drugs and therapeutic compounds. To provide a setting for the development of the multidisciplinary collaborations needed to unravel the complexity of plant natural product biosynthesis and the dynamics of metabolic networks, and to advance basic and applied research in plant metabolic engineering in support of drug development activities, we are requesting support for the 2009 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and joint Graduate Research Seminar (GRS) on Plant Metabolic Engineering to be held July 11-17, 2009 at the Waterville Valley conference center in New Hampshire. Similar to the first 2 meetings of this new conference series, we expect the number of speakers and participants to reach upwards of 175 persons from the US and abroad, at all career levels, and representing institutions from academia, industry, private institutes, and federal laboratories. Concerted efforts will continue to encourage the participation of women, persons with disabilities, and scientists from underrepresented groups. As was done for the first time in 2007, we will also host a Graduate Research Seminar (GRS) immediately prior to the GRC. Our first GRS' provided a unique venue for junior scientists (Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows) to present their research results in a setting of their direct peers, to learn how to evolve new research ideas and notions amongst a diverse audience, and helped to build a much more dynamic and interactive scientific community because the GRS participants were fully integrated into the larger GRC meeting as well. The 2009 GRS will be centered on "Roundtable Discussions" and opportunities for participants to openly discuss issues related to the field in general, thus providing the participants with an opportunity to establish ownership of a field, a community and a meeting venue. All participants to the GRS are expected to stay for the GRC, further enhancing the educational component of this conference. Public Health Relevance: Project Narrative the GRC in Plant Metabolic Engineering provides a setting for developing the multidisciplinary collaborations and interactions needed to unravel the dynamic complexity of plant metabolism with the purpose of manipulating pathways towards the goal of altering the levels of metabolites with importance to human health, food nutrition, energy production and agronomic production of plants.