Although there are a number of meetings dealing with specialized aspects of tetrapyrrole science, this Gordon Research Conference on Tetrapyrroles is unique and is particularly important because of its highly multidisciplinary nature. Researchers who attend this GRC range from basic scientists such as biologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, geneticists, enzymologists, protein and physical chemists (including crystallographers), plant physiologists, microbiologists and chemists (synthetic, structural and analytical), and including clinicians (hematologists, gastroenterologists, hepatologists, nephrologists and neurologists).

Topics to be covered include: novel roles for tetrapyrroles and their metabolites in the regulation of complex biological processes including circadian rhythms, neurodegeneration and plant senescence; novel roles for enzymes of tetrapyrrole metabolism in plants, bacteria, algae and mammalian cells; nutritional heme biochemistry and human iron homeostasis; cell tetrapyrrole and metal homeostasis with roles for tetrapyrroles in signaling and gene regulation; tetrapyrrole trafficking for gene regulation and stem cell survival; novel targets for the treatment of cancers, malaria, helminthic infections and other diseases of human pathogens; porphyrin nanostructures-models for electron transfer systems including photosynthesis; artificial heme-enzymes that probe tetrapyrrole ligand specificity and hence catalytic function.

Tetrapyrrole metabolism is currently being dissected by researchers using a wide range of model systems including yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and S. pombe), zebra fish (Danio rerio), fly (Drosophila melanogaster), tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) and the nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans).