The 16th International Meeting on the Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism, Castle of Ploen (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), July 10-15, 2012, covered all aspects of NAD(P)-dependent oxido-reductases that are involved in the general metabolism of xenobiotic and physiological carbonyl compounds. Starting 30 years ago with enzyme purification, structure elucidation and enzyme kinetics, the Carbonyl Society members have meanwhile established internationally recognized enzyme nomenclature systems and now consider aspects of enzyme genomics and enzyme evolution along with their roles in diseases. The 16th international meeting included lectures from international speakers from all over the world.