International Colloquium on Endocytobiology and Symbiosis 2010

The evolution of eukaryotic cells and with them all forms of higher organisms is intimately connected to the endosymbiotic uptake of bacterial cells some 1.5 billion years ago. The descendents of the original endosymbionts, namely plastids and mitochondri a, subsequently became enslaved by the host cell and fulfil vital roles there now. Endocytobiology is the biological discipline that strives to understand how these ancient cell organelles evolved and how they became an integral part of eukaryotic cells. Currently, break-through discoveries in this field concern the communication between plastids, mitochondria and the other plant cell compartments and their functional integration in the cell's signalling networks. The emerging role of mitochondria and mit ochondrial DNA in apoptosis, ageing, complex diseases and tumor progression opens up a whole new field in biomedical sciences. The International Society of Endocytobiology (ISE) embraces researchers from the above-mentioned areas and has arranged triennia l international conferences with 100 to 140 participants in order to provide a forum to discuss the status quo and to envision new challenges. The conference duration will be 4-5 days and will leave enough time between lectures for poster sessions and soc ial get-togethers. The conference traditionally covers diverse subdisciplines such as Molecular Biology, Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Phylogenomics and Ecology. The next conference is scheduled for autumn 2010 and will be organized for the first time at a norwegian institution. The scientific organisation committee that is composed of 3 Norwegian scientists and 3 scientists from German research institutions, has created a draft conference program that is balanced with respect to partic pating nations, gender and age. Invited plenary and keynote speakers that are among the top scientists in their field, will enhance the attractivity of this conference for many researchers in Norway and abroad.