Symbiotic stars are interacting binaries consisting of an evolved, cool giant that
is transferring mass to a hot companion - a white dwarf or rarely a neutron star.
The presence of both ionized and neutral regions in their surroundings, interacting
winds, jets, accretion disks, or dust forming regions make them extraordinary astrophysical
laboratories for studying various aspects of interaction and evolution in binary systems.
Although recent surveys discovered several dozens of new symbiotic variables, their
careful analysis and deriving the parameters of the components of these systems are
needed in order to understand the mechanisms of their interactions and evolution.
Our New Online Database of Symbiotic Variables can serve as a basis for statistical
studies of the characteristics of the symbiotic population. As presented in this contribution,
Gaia observations made public in the Gaia EDR3 and impatiently awaited in subsequent
releases could be very suitable for this purpose considering the Gaia satellite can
provide data obtained uniformly for the entire sample.
