Any organism is an element of a comprehensive network. The world is characterised by complex interactions among organisms, for example, between human beings and animals, between animals and plants, and between plants and other plants. Understanding of these complex biointeractions requires profound research into mechanisms and their functions. How does a mosquito find its human victim, or how does a plant defend itself actively against a penetrating mould? How can a plant distinguish a nematode from a virus, and why does a plant produce odours to defend itself against a caterpillar?
Such questions arise from curiosity, from the desire to understand the world around us. If for no other reason, it remains a challenge to investigate biointeractions. That challenge is even greater when the questions are asked in the context of the search for contributions to the health of agriculture, our daily food, nature around us, animals and man. Diseases in the human environment can have catastrophic consequences for human populations: malaria, contaminated foods, potato blight and avian influenza are just some examples of events that can have a tremendous impact not only on public health but also on the economy, culture and society as a whole.