THE 5th International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT) Molecular Biology Workshop was hosted by the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) from 3-7 April 2006. It was organised by Asha Dookun-Saumtally and the MSIRI staff. Initially, some 35 participants were expected, but a week prior to the Workshop, several cancellations were received and it ended up attended by 23 participants. However, this did not affect the Workshop and it had a concomitant advantage in that discussion times were extended and the interaction among participants was excellent. The Workshop covered five themes: (1) Genetics, physiology, mapping agronomic traits and disease resistance traits; (2) genetic improvement, marker assisted breeding and genetic diversity; (3) sugarcane genomics; (4) sugarcane transformation; and (5) scientific and technical advances. Besides the technical sessions, participants had the opportunity to visit different Departments at the MSIRI. Field trips were also programmed during the Workshop.