The 60th Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists Chemotaxis, Invasion, and Phagocytosis: From Bacteria to Humans

The 60th meeting of the Society of General Physiologists took place in Woods Hole, MA on September 6–10, 2006. The theme of the featured symposium was “Chemotaxis, Invasion, and Phagocytosis: From Bacteria to Humans.” The symposium was organized by Sergio Grinstein from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Joe Falke of University of Colorado, Boulder. As indicated by the title, one unusual feature of the program was the bringing together of people and ideas in the fi elds of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic motility. This highlighted some fascinating contrasts in how the basic problem of sensing and moving up attractant gradients has been solved in two different ways. The meeting drew 65 participants from 6 countries. The symposium itself was divided into six sessions: two centered on prokaryotes, three focused on eukaryotes, and one involved the interaction of both in the process of bacterial invasion. The synopsis below follows three major themes of the meeting: bacterial chemotaxis, eukaryotic chemotaxis, and phagocytosis.