The International Scientific Conference “Biomembranes 2024” was held from October 7 to 11 at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University) (MIPT), Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia. The event was organized by the Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, iHuman Institute (China) and the Federal Research Center for Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The conference is the fifth in a series of MIPT scientific events devoted to biological membranes: the previous ones were organized in 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018, also in Dolgoprudny. The first major event, the International Scientific School for Young Scientists, was held on October 4–7, 2010. The second, the Biomembranes 2014 conference, held from September 29 to October 3, 2014, attracted more than 200 Russian and foreign participants. The presentations were devoted to extremely relevant topics of modern science: optogenetics, structure and function of G-protein-coupled receptors (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2012), prevention of aging and neurodegenerative diseases, super-resolution microscopy (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014) of membrane proteins. The round table with participation of leading foreign and Russian scientists in this field was dedicated to the international megascience project EuXFEL (European X-ray Free Electron Laser, Hamburg, Germany). The next conference, Biomembranes 2016, held on September 26–30, 2016, was attended by more than 360 Russian and foreign scientists and students. The scientific program included more than 40 lectures by leading experts from domestic and foreign scientific and educational organizations. About 120 posters were also presented. The conference was attended by scientists from more than 10 countries. The third conference in the series “Biomembranes” was held on October 1–5, 2018. The number of full-time participants of the conference amounted to 520 people from Russia and abroad. During the conference, a live broadcast of the presentations was organized, gathering up to 1500 online visitors at some moments. Participants came from more than 15 countries, including Russia, Germany, USA, China, France, UK, Belarus, Brazil, Iran, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and others. More than 200 poster presentations were presented at the conference. About 300 participants who delivered papers and poster presentations had their abstracts published in the conference proceedings in printed edition, reviewed and published in the electronic version of The Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10863-018-9775-7].

The recent “Biomembranes 2024” conference included an extensive six-day program of 45 lectures, numerous poster sessions, a panel discussion, and presentations by emerging researchers—winners of the poster competition. International Scientific Conference “Biomembranes 2024” attracted more than 520 participants from all over the world. The conference was attended by leading scientists from Russia, Belarus, China, India, England, Italy, and other countries. A distinctive feature of the conference was the wide geography of its participants among Russian scientists. The conference was attended by senior and junior scientists from all major specialized scientific institutes and universities located from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad. The conference served to consolidate international interdisciplinary scientific efforts and to demonstrate the high scientific standards of Russian research organizations in this subject. The conference was devoted to the following main topics:

— Integrative structural biology of membrane proteins,

— Current concepts of molecular mechanisms of aging and development of age-related diseases,

— Protein design and engineering,

— Current methods of rational drug development,

— Rhodopsins and optogenetics,

— G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR),

— Next generation X-ray crystallography and research using X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL),

— The structural-dynamic properties of membrane proteins elucidated by NMR,

— Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS and SANS),

— Protein cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM),

— Advanced cell biology,

— Single molecule and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy,

— Computational biology and bioinformatics,

— Theoretical biophysics of biological membrane systems and proteins.

A number of reports covered the role of biomembranes and membrane proteins in normal and pathological processes, aging and age-related diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative (Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease) and cardiovascular diseases. Some reports emphasized the results obtained by Russian scientists participating in international scientific projects. Equally important was the establishment of new contacts for future fruitful joint research and cooperation.

The conference was preceded by a satellite event “Advanced School on Structural Biology and Drug Discovery” held on October 6. Participants had the opportunity to attend lectures by leading experts in structural biology drug design, ligand-based drug design, drug target discovery and validation, computer-aided design and structural research in pharmaceutics. The panel discussion “Translational Research, Development and Innovation in Biotechnology and Bioeconomy” on the 2nd day of the conference was devoted to various aspects of the transition from academic research to R&D and manufacturing. Promising directions of development on the Russian and international markets, organizational aspects such as transfer of intellectual property rights, as well as possible frameworks of interactions between traditional scientific laboratories and business representatives were discussed.

It is expected that the series of MIPT conferences “Biomembranes” will be continued on a regular basis once every two years, as it was during the period 2014–2018.

The Conference Organizing Committee would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief Stanislav S. Kolesnikov and the Editorial Board of the journal “Biochemistry (Moscow) Suppl. Series A: Membrane and Cell Biology” for the excellent opportunity to publish the results of the research presented at the conference in the form of short communication articles.