A 3-day Nobel Conference entitled 'The role of genetics in promoting suicide prevention and the mental health of the population' was held at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institute (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden, during 8-10 June 2009. The conference was sponsored by the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine and organized by the National Prevention for Suicide and Mental Ill-Health and the Center for Molecular Medicine at KI. The program consisted of 19 invited presentations, covering the genetic basis of mood/psychotic disorders and substance abuse in relation to suicide, with topics ranging from cellular-molecular mechanisms to (endo)phenotypes of mental disorders at the level of the individual and populations. Here, we provide an overview based on the highlights of what was presented.