Our Mission

To be updated..

AIMS

The Genetics Society was founded in 1919 as the world’s first society devoted to the study of the mechanisms of inheritance. Famous founder members included William Bateson, JBS Haldane and AW Sutton. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in genetical research or teaching, or in the practical breeding of plants and animals.

MEETINGS

The Society holds one main event per year, taking place in London in November. This has at least one major symposium theme with invited speakers, and a number of contributed papers and/or poster sessions. One day mini-symposia are held during the year in different regions so that members from different catchment areas and specialist groups within the society can be informed about subjects of topical, local and specialist interest. Like the main meeting, these include papers both from local members and from invited speakers.

INVITED LECTURES

The Mendel Lecture, in honour of the founder of modern genetics, is given usually on alternate years at a London Meeting by an internationally distinguished geneticist. To encourage younger geneticists, one of our members under the age of 36 is nominated each year to give the Balfour Lecture (Named after our Founder President) at a Spring Meeting held in conjunction with other scientific society meetings.

INTERNATIONAL LINKS

The Society has many overseas members and maintains links with genetic societies in other countries through the International Genetics Federation, the Federation of European Genetic Societies and through the International Union of Microbiological Societies.

PUBLICATIONS

The Society publishes two major international scientific journals: Heredity, concerned with cytogenetics, with ecological, evolutionary and biometrical genetics and also with plant and animal breeding; and Genes and Development, which is jointly owned with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and which is concerned with molecular and developmental aspects of genetics. Full and student members are entitled to reduced subscriptions both to these journals and also to Genetical Research, published by Cambridge University Press, to Trends in Genetics, a monthly journal published by Elsevier with review articles of topical interest aimed at the general reader, Nature Genetics, published by Nature Publishing company (MacMillan Magazines Limited), Current Biology journals, BioEssays and Chromosome Research. A newsletter is sent out three times a year to inform members about meetings, symposia and other items of interest.

SPECIALIST INTERESTS

Six specialist interest areas are covered by elected Committee Members: Gene Structure, Function and Regulation; Genomics; Cell & Developmental Genetics; Applied and Quantitative Genetics; Evolutionary, Ecological and Population Genetics; Corporate Genetics and Biotechnology. The Committee Members are responsible for ensuring that the various local and national meetings cover all organisms within the broad spectrum of our members’ interests.