Control and design of biosystems.

Abstract

Biosystems are dynamic networks driven by cross-scale interactions between molecules, cells, tissues, organs and organisms. Recent advances in our understanding of the spatiotemporal regulation and organization of biosystems have stimulated exploration of novel approaches to control and design biosystems at multiple biological scales. Such new approaches include artificial cell synthesis, generation of embryoids/organoids, reconstitution and manipulation of life events such as aging and reproduction, and multidisciplinary approaches using theoretical and engineering technologies. These control-and-design methodologies are expected to open up a new avenue to understanding life events as well as to provide the basis for novel design strategies in medical sciences. This review issue of DGD aims at collecting current results on such challenges. Hayashi, Shimamoto, and Nagamatsu (2020) review environmental factors involved in the control of oocyte dormancy, including oxygen concentrations and ECM-mediated mechanical stress. Uncovering the mechanism of oocyte dormancy will contribute to design novel approaches in reproductive biology and therapy. Hagiwara and Isabel (2020) introduce recent advancements in engineering technologies to control the microenvironment during cell culture, which will provide experimental advantages for maturing organoids as well as for measuring their self-organization process. Funano, Tanaka, and Tanaka (2020) describe a newly developed methodology for designing cell patterns on a dish/substrate at a high resolution of under a few micrometers with long-term stability, and also mention those biological applications. Naoki and Matsui (2020) introduce theoretical approaches to investigate noise-resistant spatial-patterning mechanisms during organ development, taking somitogenesis as an example. Seirin-Lee (2020) also reviews, from the theoretical perspective, the mechanism of cell polarity formation, which plays a critical role in controlling asymmetric cell division. This issue is based on the discussions during the RIKEN BDR symposium 2019 “Control and Design of Biosystems” held on March 25th to 27th, 2019 in RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan. RIKEN BDR was launched on April 1, 2018, as a new RIKEN center succeeding the Center for Developmental Biology, Center for Life Science Technologies, and Quantitative Biology Center. The BDR symposium continues in the footsteps of the RIKEN CDB symposium series that was launched in 2003, to foster the global and timely scientific exchange among researchers in the fields of biological studies related with all life stages.