This conference is part of a yearly meeting initiated in 1991 to bring together genome sequencers, bioinformatics specialists, biologists, and geneticists, to forge interactions that would result in meaningful functional genomics.  The goal of the meeting is to translate the influx of new genome sequencing information into useful biological studies.

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There is great excitement in molecular biology over the prospect of comparing the sequences and contents of an emerging set of genomes, and of learning how these sequences operate to control specific genomes on a global basis.  Using both genetics and functional genomics will be the focus of many different laboratories.  A key element of this meeting will be the integration of different aspects of microbiology, sequencing technology, analysis techniques, bioinformatics, and genetic studies.  The goal of this conference is to provide a regular forum for these interactions to occur.  While there have been a number of genome conferences, what distinguishes the LAMG is its emphasis on bringing together biology and genetics with sequencing and bioinformatics.  Also, this conference is the longest continuing meeting, now established as a major regular annual meeting during the last 26 years.  The 22nd meeting will take place at Lake Arrowhead, California, September 16–20, 2018.  In addition to its coverage of small genomes, the meeting will also highlight genomes of pathogens, metagenomics and microbial biodiversity, the human microbiome, and bioenergetics.

The concept of an annual meeting on the E. coli genome was formulated at the Banbury Center in 1991.  The first and second meetings were held at the University of Wisconsin on September 10–14, 1992 and September 9–13, 1993. The attendees at the second meeting recommended a third annual meeting, which was held on November 4–8, 1994 in Woods Hole, MA, to be followed in August 1995 with the Cold Spring Harbor-sponsored meeting on bacterial and phage genetics with emphasis on E. coli.  This meeting coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Advanced Bacterial Genetics Course at Cold Spring Harbor. All three meetings were a great success, catalyzing an integrated approach to analyzing this genome.

The fourth Genome meeting was held on September 8–12, 1996, at Lake Arrowhead, CA, and continued the extension of the meeting content with participation of investigators who were working on or had completed the sequence of other small genomes. The fifth meeting was held in Snowbird, Utah, from October 12–15, 1997, which celebrated the completion of the E. coli sequence, and included reports of numerous complete microorganism genomes. The meeting also extended its coverage to functional genomics, as well as trying to define the proteome. The sixth meeting was held September 20–24, 1998 at Lake Arrowhead, as was re-named the "Small Genome Conference" to acknowledge the broadened focus of the meeting. The participants enthusiastically supported the organization of an annual meeting.

The meetings since have shifted focus to microbial communities, the human microbiome, pathogens, and genome evolution. This year's meeting will cover micro-organisms for which extensive analyses exist, and those for which new biological and technical strategies are being developed. The focus on biodiversity, the human microbiome, pathogenic organisms, and bioenergentics adds special significance to this meeting. This meeting is designed to have a mix of oral presentations and poster sessions, and it will have approximately 150 participants.