BDR Symposium 2019

The first BDR Symposium, titled Control and Design of Biosystems, was held March 25th to 27th at the RIKEN Kobe Campus. There were 20 invited speakers representing dozens of international research centers. A total of 174 researchers came from abroad for the symposium from 15 countries, many from the US and Germany.

The symposium started with a welcome from Dr. Eisuke Nishida, BDR Director, and continued over three days with 30 lectures, on the theme of manipulation and design of vital functions at various biological scales - molecules, cells, tissues, organs and individuals.

The first day was given to research on the creation of artificial cells and organoids. On the second and third day, talks focused on how to combine theory and engineering techniques to understand and intervene in phenomena such as aging and reproduction.

Poster sessions, an evening reception and a speaker’s dinner rounded out the planned portion of the symposium.

When professor Katsuhiko Hayashi, of Kyushu University ended the three-day event with closing remarks the mood was upbeat. Former RIKEN Kobe Campus researcher Urs Frey, who traveled from Switzerland and was at the symposium as an invited speaker said, “It’s nice to be back. The symposium was great!”

He is looking forward to BDR Symposium 2020, Emergence in Biosystems. That is slated to be held March 2nd to 4th at the same BDR Kobe Campus. BDR Symposium 2019 was co-sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.