Preface of papers on XVIII Meeting of the italian Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics

The contributions collected in this special issue of the European Biophysics Journal have been presented at the XVIII congress of the Italian Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics (SIBPA). The Society, founded in 1973 with the aim of bringing together all the Italian researchers working in the Biophys- ics Weld, is involved in many activities such as Schools for young scientists, meetings, etc. The society congress is organized every 2 years and it represents a very useful occasion for sharing knowledge and experiences. In Sep- tember 2006, it took place in Terrasini (Palermo, Italy) within the beautiful frame of the Sicilian Fall.