These two meetings took place at Djurones, a resort located in the archipelago of Stockholm.
The place was wonderful and so was the programme – shaped by E. Norin (President of IAG) and G. Donelli (President of SOMED). Issues of great interest for members of both societies were on the agenda. Based on the simple fact that ‘gut comfort is a key issue of well-being, and the microbiota is part of the gut physiology’ (cited from a lecture given by J.M. Antoine), a major part of the meeting was allocated for elucidation of various parts of the complex interplay between a microorganism and its gastrointestinal microbiota. Basic ‘…omics’ such as functional genomics and metabolomics were covered in some specific sections and very up-to-date news in innate immunity, intestinal peptides and other aspects of gut immunology in others. Also featured were cancer and the intriguing interplay between microbiota and gain of weight. More specific microbial problems such as aspects of biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance and microbial gene transfers were covered, as well as animal models.
This is not the first time that these two societies have held meetings together, and I am quite sure it will not be the last. Taking a glance in the historical mirror of these two societies it can be stated that – with a dash of oversimplification – IAG was mainly a society for research on germ-free animals and SOMED was a society with more reflection on the microbiological part of the interplay between any host and its microbiota.
Therefore, a symbiosis between these two societies should create a win/win situation for both. In fact, that is the main reason for publishing the abstracts after the meeting. Microbiologists, microbioal ecologists, gut physiologists and gut pathophysiologists should be more familiar with animal models and gnotobiology (i.e. studies on animals with a known microbiota, including absence of one) and gnotobiologists should meet front-runners in the fields mentioned. I can assure my readers that it happened during the Djurones meeting.
Dear readers: enjoy reading the abstracts. Hopefully, you will find new thoughts and new ideas of value for your own research. Some of the lectures will be published exclusively in Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (MEHD). Many of the topics will be focused upon at SOMED's next meeting, taking place in St Petersburg, Russia, in the autumn of 2009. More information will be published in MEHD.
My best wishes for you are very simple: be a member of SOMED and read MEHD.
Looking forward seeing you in St Petersburg Tore Midtvedt Editor-in chief