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：2010年Keystone植物RNA沉默机制研讨会将于2010年2月21日至26日举行。 会议将为在植物RNA沉默不同领域工作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在各种RNA沉默途径中起作用的新型蛋白质（例如，Pol IV和Pol V在小RNA介导的表观遗传修饰中的作用），因此重要的是最大限度地提高不同植物科学家群体之间信息交流的可能性。全面的会议计划将允许RNA沉默的各个子领域之间的交叉施肥，并为来自行业的参与者提供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并与该领域的顶级科学家互动。将鼓励他们展示海报，这是与其他科学家就当前和未来的职业活动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会议期间提供口头报告。组织者致力于从学生和博士后人才库中挑选不同的演讲者。更广泛的影响：本次会议将通过向学生，博士后研究人员和新进入该领域的最先进科学的研究人员提供培训，并为他们提供关于自己努力的关键科学反馈来加强教育。对于这些人，会议还将促进职业发展，包括有机会看到成功的科学家介绍尖端科学，并与未来的导师和其他可能有助于他们的科学和专业发展的人建立联系。

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.