CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES

Following the success of the six previous Conferences (Estoril, Portugal, 1996; xxx, xxx, 1998; Hamburg, Germany, 2000; Naples, Italy, 2002; Baltimore, USA, 2004; Brest, France, 2006), the Cape Town meeting will bring together scientists from a wide range of disciplines who together are participants in this fascinating field of research. The Extremophile meeting offers opportunities to meet old friends, to make new ones, to discover and discuss recent achievements and to develop cooperative programs for the future.

The goal of the Conference is to review the progress of research and applications in extremophiles, covering all the extreme environments, all relevant scientific disciplines and most especially new and emerging disciplines such as metagenomics and systems biology. The Conference will also review the developments and achievements of technologies based on the use of extremophiles and their products.

This Conference will take place, for the first time, on the African continent. For many participants, this will be their first introduction to this continent or the nation of South Africa . It is hoped that all participants will take the opportunity to learn more of the unique social, cultural and environmental characteristics of southern Africa.