Over 100 esteemed professionals from around the world gathered in Portoro0, Slovenia, between May 9–12, 2002 for the 2nd International Meeting “Suicide: Interplay of Genes and Environment.” The meeting was organized by The Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley, and the University of Gent. The delegates, two-thirds of them from abroad, enjoyed outstanding lectures and workshops and a diverse social program. Thus, we could describe the meeting as a Dulce et utile event which succeeded on both counts. The opening ceremony took place in the Pretorial Palace in Koper surrounded by beautiful Venetian architecture and the sounds of the violin and piano. The meeting was opened by Mr. Dino Pucer, Mayor of Koper. Mrs. Stefka Ku2an, the First Lady of Slovenia, in her address placed her hopes in the hands of experts to solve the problem of suicide. The President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Tone Hrovat, pointed out that we must not, and cannot, neglect the fact that in many countries suicide is the cause of a significant proportion of total mortality. He hoped that meetings like this one will enable experts to find ways to help persons in the severe test of the path to life! In the first session, “Suicidal Behavior: Influences of Time and Surrounding,” Dr. Andrej Marusi2 (Slovenia) presented a paper titled “The ultimate causation of suicide” highlighting a historical review of suicides. Dr. Dinesh Bhugra (UK) gave a presentation on suicide in the times of the British Raj and the phenomenon of Sati. Prof. Anne Farmer (UK) argued that in spite of the fact that there are wide variations in suicide rates across Europe, suicide has, at least partly, a genetic component. The first session was concluded by Prof. Stephen Platt (UK), who examined the strength of evidence for area effects in relation to both suicide and deliberate self-harm. He argued that in addition to socioeconomic characteristics a range of other factors, including cultural norms and values and the quality of mental health services, might be key constituents of a suicidogenic environment. Next on the program were two parallel sessions. In the first on “Genetic Risk Factors for Suicide Behaviour” the German group presented a paper about systematic screening for serotonergic genes in suicidal behavior. They highlighted the distribution of genetic polymorphisms in the ABCG1, TPH, 5HT1B, 5HT2A, and SERT MAOB in 150 patients with psychiatric disorders compared to 320 healthy control subjects. Similarly, Dr. Ph. Courtet and his collaborators from France and Switzerland hypothesized that DNA polymorphisms affecting serotonin-related genes may be the molecular basis of the genetic vulnerability to suicidal behavior. In addition, Dr. J. Stefulj from Croatia pointed out that the TPH gene or a gene in its vicinity could influence the risk for violent suicide, and that the influence might be more pronounced among females in the elderly. Prof. D. McGuffin (UK) spoke about molecular genetic studies of risk factors for suicide and presented the results from the ongoing study on suicides and nonsuicidal deaths in Slovenia. The session was concluded by Dr. A.L. Glowinsky (USA), who presented results from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study and Dr. M. B. Anholcer from Poland who spoke about biological markers of aggression. The second parallel session was on the “Interplay of Suicide and Society.” Dr. M.B. Anholcer (Poland), Dr. R.D. Goodwin (USA), Prof. T. Tomori (Slovenia), Dr. I. Maremmani (Italy), Dr. R. Oravecz (Slovenia), and Dr. E. Pavlovi1 (Croatia) presented papers covering many aspects of suicidal behavior. Topics discussed were suicides in Poland as an indicator of social disintegration, inferiority complex and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adoles-