Cybernetics of development under a changing environment: How can we predict environmental impacts on development?
Cybernetics of development under a changing environment: How can we predict environmental impacts on development?Assoc. Professor Atsuko SatoOchanomizu University and Tohoku University, Japan
Predicting development has been a major challenge in genetics, medicine and evolutionary biology. More than half a century ago, Conrad Hal Waddington famously raised several issues in understanding ‘cybernetics’ of development in his book ‘The Strategy of the Genes’, such as impact of environment, maternal effect and developmental buffering. My previous study showed that buffering level is maternally inherited, and identified key maternal mRNAs that predicts level of developmental buffering. In addition to my previous works on molecular understanding of developmental buffering and how it impacts on transgenerational inheritance, I will also introduce my ongoing work on mathematical understanding of impact of thermal stress on development.