A new symposium was introduced at the Centennial Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) meeting during the joint annual meeting of ASAS and the American Dairy Science Association in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 8, 2008. The purpose of the Cell Biology Symposium is to bring scientists with cutting edge basic research on a particular theme to the ASAS meeting. In the future we hope to expand this symposium by including a poster session for ASAS participants and invited speakers to interact. This year the theme of the Cell Biology Symposium was “The role of microRNA in cell function.” Four speakers delved into the basic function of microRNA, their role in hepatic cell function, regulation of muscle characteristics, and their role in female reproduction.