Global Congress on Nucleic Acids: Biology, Health & Diseases August 04-05, 2016 New Orleans, LA, USA

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is located in the southeast part of the state, between the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. Its name comes from Orleans, a city on the Loire River in France. Known for its French Creole architecture and multilingual and cultural heritage, New Orleans is often called the most unique city in the United States. The population of the city was 378,715 as of the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau. In 2012, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 largest cities with the fastest growing populations in the US based on Census Bureau data. New Orleans ranked #1, with 4.9% growth from 2010 to 2011.

New Orleans has one of the world's greatest international ports and it is a major focus of the city's economy. New Orleans is home to the corporate offices of oil companies with major offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the distribution and service centres of offshore equipment suppliers and fabricators. The manufacturing industry is a significant part of the economy, with petroleum, petrochemical, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries all playing a role. The New Orleans region also functions as a mining, processing, and transportation centre for other minerals, principally sulphur. Service industries are playing a larger role, with health care and telecommunications leading the way. The New Orleans region is widely regarded as a leading centre of medicine and health care in the South.