The 2018 DNA Topoisomerases in Biology and Medicine Gordon Research Conference and Associated Gordon Research Seminar will be a forum for the presentation and discussion of cutting-edge scientific advances in the study of DNA and RNA topoisomerases and their interacting partners, and their relevance in the origin and treatment of human diseases. The associated GRS will provide an opportunity for graduate students, post-docs, and other early-stage investigators to come together to discuss their current research and build informal networks with their peers. The primary focus of the GRC meeting is to attract scientists with a broad range of backgrounds with the consequent exposure of delegates to world-class expects and to new questions, approaches and techniques. The meeting will review and discuss the importance of topoisomerases as therapeutic targets for drug-resistant bacterial infections and cancers. It will address the emerging connections between topoisomerases and chromatin structure and condensins, and the impact of topoisomerases on genomic damage and stability. A related topic will be the DNA repair pathways that are required to remove aborted topoisomerase-DNA complexes. The role of topoisomerases in transcription and their increasingly relevant role as RNA topoisomerases will also be covered in the meeting, as well as the role of topoisomerase in neurological diseases and cancers.