21-Mar-2005
Press Release

Scientists Gather for Microbial Genomics Conference

A decade after the dawn of the genomics era, some of the world's top scientists in the field of microbial genomics are gathering in Halifax, Canada, for the International Conference on Microbial Genomes. Speakers will discuss metagenomics, comparative genomics, population processes, genome evolution and environmental genomics.

March 21, 2005

Rockville, MD — A decade after the dawn of the genomics era, some of the world's top scientists in the field of microbial genomics are gathering in Halifax, Canada, for an international conference.

Speakers at the International Conference on Microbial Genomes will discuss the latest hot topics in the field, including metagenomics (the sequencing of environmental samples), comparative genomics, population processes, genome evolution and environmental genomics. A pre-conference workshop will be held on phylogenetics.

The meeting, which will be held April 13-16, is sponsored by Canada's Genome Atlantic and by The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), which sequenced the first microbial genome in 1995. It is the first of the TIGR-sponsored microbial genomics conferences to be held in Canada.

Among the conference speakers and their topics are:

  • Claire M. Fraser, President of TIGR, on "The Present and Future of Microbial Genomics"
  • Eddy Rubin, of the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, on "Comparative Genomics"
  • Ford Doolittle, of Dalhousie University, on "Species in the Light of Genomics"
  • Jean-Michel Claverie, of France's CNRS, on the " Mimivirus Genome: a 1.2 Mb Window on a 4th Domain of Life?"
  • Jim Tiedje, of Michigan State University, on "Genomic Insight into Versaphiles, the Burkholderia"
  • Mitchell Abrahamsen, of the University of Minnesota, on "Lessons in Efficient Intracellular Parasitism: Analyses of the Cyrptosporidium parvum Genome"

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CONFERENCE REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Conference program and hotel information is available at www.tigr.org/conf/mg2005. The pre-conference registration deadline is April 1, 2005. Journalists wishing to register for the meeting may do so by contacting TIGR Conference Manager Amy Rabin at amy@tigr.org (301-795-7509).