The Gordon Research Conference on Biomineralization will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2006. The conference objective is to explore interface events that lead to biomineralization in vertebrate, invertebrate, plant, as well as biomimetic systems. Over the years attendees of this conference have witnessed the spectacular advances made in the field of biomineralization. The interest in this topic stems from the important role that biomineralization processes play in biology, biotechnology, medicine, chemistry, interfacial science, materials science, and nanotechnology. The goal of this GRC is to create a conference, which will be the premier venue to discuss fundamental and applied biomineralization aspects that intersect biology and materials science, by bringing together chemists, physicists, biologists, physicians and engineers who would otherwise not overlap on the conference circuit, in a setting that promotes cross-disciplinary fertilization of new ideas.

We anticipate an exciting meeting with the invited oral sessions that will include, but will not be limited to the following topics: invertebrate tissues; vertebrate tissues; plant mineralization; bones and teeth; cellular control of biomineralization; biominerals and protein interactions; mechanisms of crystal growth; regulation of mineralization; abnormal biomineralization; environmental aspects of biomineralization; new strategies and analytical techniques for mapping biomineralization; biomimetic materials synthesis and tissue engineering. The oral sessions will be followed by the highly successful afternoon poster sessions. The poster sessions provide all conferees with the opportunity to present their latest research and to exchange ideas in a more informal setting. Similar to the lectures, the poster presentations should represent work that has not been to a significant extent previously published. All conferees are encouraged to submit and present posters. We will select 5-6 best poster abstracts for short talk presentations.