This proposal requests funds to assist in the support of the Twelfth Biennial Gordon Research Conference on Mammary Gland Biology to be held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, June 9-14, 1991. This highly successful and attended conference is designed to bring together scientists from a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines who share a major interest in the mammary gland. The program is traditionally selected to satisfy the multidisciplinary composition of the audience. The scheduled sessions include: Significance of the extracellular matrix in mammary growth and in milk secretion; The role of cytokines in mastitis and mammary health; The mammary gland as a bioreactor: transgenic animals; The secretion of lipids: carotinoids and choline their metabolism and influences on the neonate; Breast cancer: genes and prognosis; Nutrient utilization by the lactating animal; prognosis for increased milk secretory efficiency; Milk proteins: transcription, trafficking and function; Organo/oncogenesis: relationship between genes of development and genes of carcinogenesis. In addition a special workshop aimed at the "Crisis in Future Development of Mammary Biologists" will be held. Increasing participation of undergraduate teachers in Gordon Conferences will be discussed. This is seen as a mechanism to establish new relationships for students, to help new researchers get started, and to encourage development of minority students. The 1991 Conference was highly rated by the Gordon Conference monitors and was enthusiastically attended by many young investigators. The success of the Conference rests on the unique opportunity for multidisciplinary interaction on an informal basis over a period of one week. The participants know that opinions expressed at the Conference will not be published or cited and therefore they are totally free to explore the impact of their hypothesis on receptive peers. In selecting speakers, special effort was made to invite scientists who had not spoken previously to this group. Of the 29 speakers, 20 are new to the Mammary Gland Gordon Conference program. We request adequate funding to enable the invited speakers to be present at the Conference.