American Society for Microbiology to Host First Meeting Outside US

Featuring over 3,000 individual scientific presentations, the 107th ASM General Meeting will be held May 21-25. The meeting is the largest annual gathering of microbiologists in the world and is expected to attract more than 12,000 attendees. The MTCC anticipates this major convention will produce significant revenue for Toronto's hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues, with an overall economic impact of approximately $19.2 million in direct spending.

Microbiologists study living organisms such as microbes, infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses, as well as fungi, algae and protozoa - some of these cause diseases, but many contribute to the balance of nature or are otherwise beneficial. The work of these scientists is critical to human health, agriculture, the environment and biotechnology.

Many accomplishments in the microbiological sciences have significantly affected our lives, such as the development of treatments for infectious diseases, the prevention of food spoilage, the use of microorganisms to clean up pollutants and basic knowledge of the nature of all living things. In fact, microbiology boasts some of the most illustrious names in the annals of science - Pasteur, Koch, Fleming, Leeuwenhoek, Lister, Jenner and Salk - and some of the greatest achievements for humankind.