The 3rd International Symposium on Languages in Biology and Medicine (LBM) was held in Jeju island, Korea, November 8-10, 2009 (http://lbm2009.biopathway.org). LBM is an interdisciplinary forum that brings together researchers in biology, chemistry, medicine, public health and informatics to discuss and exploit cutting edge language technology. Language, in its many forms, is the universal means to represent, question, and convey knowledge. Likewise applied technologies such as information extraction, summarization, and translation are key technologies for advancing biomedical research and healthcare provision. The automation of all these solutions empowers our ability to discover new knowledge.