Foundational Approaches and Enabling Technologies for Investigation of Complex Systems

The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products will bring together a broad range of researchers at all career stages from academia, government and industry to discuss new frontiers and emerging strategies for investigation and application of complex marine systems. Marine natural products arise from complex ecosystems in which innumerable interactions play key roles in their development. Investigation of these complex marine systems requires methodological advances in identifying and characterizing natural product structure and function, harnessing the biosynthetic potential of marine organisms, ensuring adequate production of marine natural products to rigorously explore the pharmacology, and facilitating their development and application for human health and health outcomes. Presentations and discussions will address cross-disciplinary themes from bioorganic and natural products chemistry, microbial and molecular biology, evolutionary biology and ecology, as well as in bioengineering and computational data sciences. A Gordon Research Seminar preceding the Gordon Research Conference will again pave the way for early-career scientists to network and build expertise in oral and poster presentations, before engaging with collegial research leaders across scientific disciplines. Natural products research is a highly interdisciplinary field that is being accelerated by multidisciplinary collaborations to address the central methodological and technical hurdles impeding translation of complex natural products. Ample opportunities for both formal and informal scientific exchange and networking will foster new collaborations that bridge scientific disciplines and potentiate paradigm shifts in marine natural product sciences.