Most Influential Forum For Geneticists Worldwide, Berlin

Main Category: Genetics
Article Date: 14 Jul 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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On Saturday July 12, the XX International Congress of Genetics (ICG) started in the Berlin ICC. This is the largest meeting of geneticists worldwide and dedicates itself from July 12 to 17, 2008, to the entire scientific field of human and veterinary genetics, as well as botanical genetics but also the evolution and history of the field.

Since 1899 the congress is held once every five years under the auspices of the International Genetics Federation (IGF).This year's host is the German Genetics Society (GfG). Its President, Prof. Alfred Nordheim, is also the secretary general of the congress. The GfG expects at least 2,000 participants. More than 280 renowned speakers,10 plenary sessions, 54 symposia, and 1,400 scientific posters offer insight into the diversity of current genetic research and science.

The theme of the XX International Congress of Genetics is "Understanding Living Systems". The focus of the scientific forum will thus be on the significance of genetics within the life sciences. Genetics enables increasing know-how on evolutionary processes and is as such a key discipline. The focus of the congress program will lie on stem cell research, the genetics of cancer, applied plant genetics, and new, futuristic topics like synthetic biology.

The Congress President, Prof. Rudi Balling and the Congress Secretary General Prof. Alfred Nordheim, will open the event today at 4.30 pm with an official ceremony (hall 2). Following this, there will be at 5 pm a Keynote Symposium on "Mutating Genomes" with the Nobel prize laureates Prof. Mario R. Capecchi, Prof. Oliver Smithies and Prof. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. Three further Nobel prize winners, Prof. Richard Axel (Plenary Lecture 16.07.), Prof. Eric F. Wieschaus (Parallel Sessions 17.07.) and Prof. Phillip A. Sharp (Plenary Lecture 15.07.), will be participating in the congress.

As part of the XX International Congress of Genetics the highest endowed prize in the field, the Gruber Genetics Prize, will be awarded. This year's recipient, Prof. Allan C. Spradling, will receive the prize on July 13, in the Berlin ICC. The prize that the Gruber Foundation awards annually is endowed with $ 500,000.

On July 15, also the Elisabeth-Gateff-Prize will be awarded. This dissertation award of the German Genetics Society (GfG) is given annually since 2002 and will be awarded this year to Dr. Thomas Wollert from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig. He will receive the prize from the President of the GfG and ICG Secretary General 2008, Prof. Alfred Nordheim.

A special focus of the congress is the topic "eugenics". On July 14, Prof. André Reis as President of the German Society of Human Genetics (GfH) and Prof. Wolfram Henn, President of the society's ethics committee, will present a statement of German human geneticists on the responsibilities for the history of their field. This will take place on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the enactment of the "law to prevent hereditary diseased offspring", which was implemented on July 14 in 1933, and which gave grounds for the inhuman, forced sterilizations and the euthanasia program. The German Society for Human Genetics comments on the scientists involved then, and takes a stand regarding the current position of German genetics.

Information on the ICG-Press-Program:

After the statement on "eugenics" at 12.30 pm (room 44) Prof. Reis and Prof. Henn, as well as Prof. Alfred Nordheim, GfG President and co-signer of the statement, will be available for questioning in a press Topic Talk.

In two further Topic Talks - press talks on topic highlights at lunch time - international top scientists will give information on issues regarding stem cell research (15.07., 12:30 pm) as well as disease genetics (16.07., 12:30 pm).

http://www.geneticsberlin2008.com