EDITORIAL NOTESchistosoma mansoni at the Molecular and Cellular Biologyof Helminth Parasites VI Meeting

Molecular information about eukaryotes has increased exponentially in the last decade. Sequencing of genomes and transcriptomes of model eukaryotic organisms has been followed by efforts in many groups to obtain equiva-lent information on helminth parasites. Large-scale molecular information is opening a door to understanding the intricate molecular and cellular biology of complex eukaryote parasites and raising the expectations to the ability of interfering with parasite-host interactions. Recognizing the need to increase the exchange of ideas in the area of helminth parasites, the international scientific community has gathered around a specialized meeting as early as 1997, when the first “Parasitic Helminths from Genomes to Vaccines ” meeting took place in Edinburgh, UK, organized by Malcolm Kennedy from the University of Glasgow, and by Mark Blaxter and Rick Maizels, from the University of Edinburgh. A second meeting took place in Edinburgh in 1999, under the same title. In 2002 the event was renamed “Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites III ” and it has been moved to the isle of Hydra, in Greece, where all subsequent events of the series have taken place. On September 5-10, 2010 the “Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI ” meeting was organized by Kleoniki Gounaris and Murray Selkirk from the Imperial College, UK, and by Rick Maizels, from the University of Edinburgh. The meeting has an attendance limited to approximately 150 scientists, and the 2010 event comprised one keynote lecture, another 52 oral presentations with discussions in the mornings and evenings, and two poster sessions at night