Publisher's Synopsis
The above mentioned conference was organized with a view to engaging laboratory and clinical scientists from federal, university and private sector laboratories and clinics worldwide with the objective of optimizing international scientific communication and fostering new avenues for research. The conference was particularly timely, based upon recent advances towards understanding the metabolism of mineralized tissues, cell and extracellular matrix mediated biomineralization, structure and function related to matrix constituents, recombinant DNA technology strategies to define primary protein structure with functions in mineralized tissues, transgenic models for human disease, and clinical progress in medicine and dentistry using new diagnostic therapeutic strategies.;In addition to the special symposium "Collagen Cross-linking and Biomineralization" honoring the late Professor Gerry Mechanic, eleven additional symposia and poster sessions were organized. A summarized version of the contents is provided hereunder.