Opening Remarks

The Japanese Society for Living Systems Design Research, which will host this international symposium, was founded in March 2016 with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the communication between higher organisms and plants composed of multiple cell types and tissues with extracellular matrices, their symbiotic microorganisms and infecting viruses, and their hosts. The Society takes a broad view of the study of intercellular communication and the research it informs, without limiting itself to so-called systems biology or synthetic biology. It will use not only actual individual organisms, but also culture systems and computater simulations, and will include research on communication with society, in particular biosafety, biosecurity, bioethics, intellectual property and industrial applications, with a view to the development and future of these studies. We aim to provide a forum for experts and young researchers in each of these fields to deepen their interaction with each other. We have held nine annual meetings in Japan and have decided to seek international research exchanges, with foreign researchers now joining the Society’s executive committee. We plan to hold symposia that will bring together researchers not only from Asia, but also from Europe and the USA

Chair of 1st International Symposium on Living Systems Design Research Yoh-ichi Tagawa, D. Sci