Meeting report - Copper research at the top

In this brief paper, the author reports on a meeting on copper research (2n d International Meeting on Copper Homeostasis and its Disorders: Molecular and Cellular Aspects) recently held in Ravello, Italy (17-21 September 1999 ). Aimed at elucidating the diverse roles played by copper ions in biology and medicine, as they are currently intensely investigated worldwide, the m eeting has been organized around a number of major topics from prominent ar eas of copper research. These included the molecular and cellular basis of copper transport, molecular advances in Menkes and Wilson's diseases, the i nvolvement of copper in neurodegenerative diseases, the structure and funct ion of copper metalloproteins.