The meeting on "Molecular Mechanisms of Lipid and Protein Traffic", sponsored by NATO Scientific Affairs Division as an Advanced Study Institute and by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies as a Lecture Course was held in Cargese, France, in June 1997. The program included introductory lectures, specialized up-to-date contributions, poster sessions, tutorials and workshops. Emphasis was laid on the new developments in the field of membrane dynamics, in particular on the insertion and translocation of proteins; on intracellular protein, lipid and membrane traffic and sorting and on the mutual interactions between the various events occurring during membrane biogenesis. Mitochondrial biogenesis, chloroplast assembly and the insertion of proteins into peroxisomes were highlighted. Much