News and views from the 8th annual meeting of the Italian Society of Virology

The 8th annual meeting of the Italian Society of Virology ( SIV ) took place in Orvieto, Italy from the 21st to the 23rd of September 2008. The meeting covered different areas of Virology and the scientific sessions focused on: general virology and viral genetics; viral oncology, virus–host interaction and pathogenesis; emerging viruses and zoonotic, foodborne and environmental pathways of transmission; viral immunology and vaccines; viral biotechnologies and gene therapy; medical virology and antiviral therapy. The meeting had an attendance of about 160 virologists from all Italy. In this edition, a satellite workshop on “Viral biotechnologies” was organized in order to promote the role of virologists in the biotechnological research and teaching fields. A summary of the plenary lectures and oral selected presentations is reported. J. Cell. Physiol. 219: 797–799, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.