FIFTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE BIOLOGY OF VERTEBRATE SEX DETERMINATION

描述（由申请人提供）：资金要求部分支持第五届国际研讨会脊椎动物性别决定生物学将于2009年4月举行。该会议自1997年开始以来每三年举行一次。参加会议的有从事各种脊椎动物系统研究的整个国际领域，包括两栖动物、鱼类、鸟类、爬行动物、单孔目动物、有袋动物和真兽目哺乳动物，包括猪、山羊、马、小鼠和人类。由于几乎不可能跟上如此多的不同系统所取得的进展，本次会议的目的是交流信息，采用比较的方法来促进我们对性别决定和性别分化过程的理解。前四次会议促成了大量的合作：交换了试剂，计划了实验，讨论了看待性别决定的新方法。第四次研讨会的与会者中约有80%是年轻科学家。我们期望第五次会议与前四次会议一样富有成效和令人鼓舞。 公共卫生相关性：胚胎发生过程中的性发育导致形成分别产生精子和卵子的雄性和雌性。性发育中的出生缺陷导致临床上显著的异常，包括中间性、常见的生殖器异常如尿道下裂、不育和病理如癌症。这次会议将汇集来自世界各地研究不同类型脊椎动物的高级和初级科学家，以了解更多关于性发育的知识，并将新知识应用于性障碍和疾病的治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to partially support the 5th International Symposium on the Biology of Vertebrate Sex Determination to be held in April of 2009. This meeting has been held at 3-year intervals since its inception in 1997. The meeting is attended by the entire international field working on diverse vertebrate systems including amphibians, fish, birds, reptiles, monotremes, marsupials, and eutherian mammals, including pigs, goats, horses, mice, and humans. As it is nearly impossible to keep up with the advances made in so many diverse systems, the objective of this meeting is to exchange information, using a comparative approach to advance our understanding of the process of sex determination and sex differentiation. A great deal of collaboration came about as a result of the first four meetings: reagents were exchanged, experiments planned and new ways of looking at sex determination discussed. Approximately, 80% of the participants of the 4th symposium were junior scientists. We expect the 5th meeting to be as productive and stimulating as the previous four. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Sexual development during embryogenesis results in the formation of males and females that produce sperm and eggs, respectively. Birth defects in sexual development result in clinically significant abnormalities that include intersexes, common genital abnormalities such as hypospadias, infertility, and pathologies such as cancer. The proposed conference will bring together senior and junior scientists from around the world studying different types of vertebrate animals to learn more about sexual development to apply new knowledge to the treatment of sexual disorders and disease.