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The Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recently sponsored a scientific workshop entitled Molecular Embryology of the Lung: Then, Now, and in the Future. The workshop was organized to assemble scientific experts with research programs focused on the molecular aspects of developmental biology. Importantly, the expertise of these investigators was not limited to the mammalian lung but encompassed diverse biological systems. The presentations were structured to summarize past and current progress toward understanding the mechanisms and regulation of lung development and to promote discussion of specific areas for future investigation, with a long-term goal of targeting this information toward clinical application.

Through this workshop, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provided an excellent forum for the discussion of state-of-the-art developmental biology relevant to the pulmonary system. In this context and because the scientific content of the workshop is potentially of great use to the pulmonary research community, Dr. David Warburton and his colleagues were invited to prepare a brief summary of the proceedings for publication in this journal. We trust that this summary will be of use to the readership and look forward to further progress in this very interesting and clinically relevant field of investigation.