The field of Marine Natural Products has grown in stature and scope during the 35 years since the first Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products was held in Santa Barbara in 1975. Currently there are approximately 20,000 reported secondary metabolites from marine macro- or microorganisms, many of which have demonstrated potent biological activities.

Marine natural products research is a dynamic area that is continuing to evolve. Once dominated by the chemical aspects involved in the isolation and structure determination of complex molecules, the focus has now shifted to address more fundamental issues. Major efforts are directed toward harnessing the biosynthetic capacity of marine organisms for the production of novel biologically active metabolites. Although reports of the isolation and structure determination of marine secondary metabolites continue apace, there is a clear shift in emphasis toward the pursuit of microbial sources. The search for new microbial sources has expanded from straightforward extension of terrestrial isolation methods to explorations of the complex interactions between microorganisms and marine invertebrates. The recent burst of activity in mining genomic data in marine bacteria either through whole genome sequencing or metagenomic approaches highlights a new platform for secondary metabolite screening.

The mission of the 2010 MNP GRC is to bring traditional participants in this area, including natural products chemists, synthetic chemists and marine biologists, together with specialists in newly emerging areas of marine microbiology, molecular biology, genetic engineering and genomics in a highly interactive forum where new avenues of research will be developed. Participants will be selected to cover the broadest range of appropriate scientific disciplines to present the latest hypotheses and preliminary results.

The major themes which underlie the program are:

• Marine microorganisms and the production of novel biologically active compounds
• Novel biologically active compounds from diverse marine sources
• Biosynthetic processes in symbiotic relationships
• Genomics as a tool for natural products discovery
• Mechanism of action of marine natural products
• Advancing marine natural products for pharmaceutical development

In the course of developing these broad themes the perspectives of chemists and biologists with a wide range of expertise will be heard. It is anticipated that fundamental questions in biology will be addressed that will provoke stimulating discussions. In parallel new technologies will be presented that may provide new avenues for future research.