The Ninth International Conference on Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis was held for the first time in Asia from September 20 to September 24, 1992 in Otsu (a city near Kyoto), Japan. Approximately 400 delegates attended the meeting. Forty papers were presented orally and 147 poster presentations were discussed. Academic sessions were held from early in the morning until late in the evening. We are confident that the Conference was successful in providing up-to-date information about methods in protein sequence analysis to all participants. Moreover, with the knowledge and understanding of the present standard of various methods of analysis that are being used and will be used, we were able to clarify areas that need to be evaluated, to be improved and be explored further. Major topics in the Conference mostly covered areas in the methodology of protein sequence analysis, such as: micropreparation and microsequencing of proteins, mass spectrometry, post-translational modification, prediction and database analysis, and analysis of protein structures of special interests. The evolution of genetic engineering in molecular biology has greatly accelerated the accumulation of knowledge on the amino acid sequence of novel proteins regardless of whether they are expressed or not expressed in living organisms. In the early stage of accumulation of structural information, the amino acid sequence itself is worthy of notice.
