About architect-Bio
Area Representative: Yasuhiro Inoue Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
When building a house, the choice of construction materials is critical. This is because the physical properties of the materials determine the methods for processing and assembly, which in turn dictate the final shape of the house. This same principle applies to morphogenesis in living organisms.
To construct and maintain a body, cells alone lack sufficient rigidity, so they utilize support materials (such as calcium, collagen, and chitin). Cells select construction methods based on these materials to build the “body.”
This research area, “Karada Kōmuten,” tackles the principles of morphogenesis in later developmental stages—a field where understanding has been slow—by presenting a new paradigm: “the processing of non-cellular materials.” By framing the essence of morphogenesis as <Body = Workpiece, Cells = Workers>, we believe that mathematical modeling and large-scale simulations will become more straightforward, enabling a rapid clarification of the relationship between “macroscopic form” and “cell behavior.”
Furthermore, because this paradigm is analogous to “industry” itself, we anticipate the application of industrial design techniques to biology and, conversely, the application of biological findings to industry.