The speaker believes that biology would benefit from focusing on simple underlying principles and rules that generate observable phenomena, rather than just describing the observables themselves.
Tissues are not well defined, and current classifications have limited utility. The speaker argues we need to understand the patterns, rules, and themes that determine tissue organization.
Relations between cell types, defined based on how they interact and influence each other, may provide deeper insights into tissue organization than just describing cell types themselves.
The availability of growth factors determines the composition of tissues. The rules that ensure appropriate growth factor production in specific locations are not well understood.
Interactions and exchange of growth factors between cell types can lead to stable ratios and organization, but only under certain circuit designs.
Some cells are more important than others for tissue architecture. The most fundamental cell types for tissue organization are epithelial and mesenchymal cells.
As cells specialize in functions, they delegate non-essential functions to supportive cell types.
Sensing of environmental perturbations by one cell type can be linked to control of population size of another functionally related cell type via growth factor regulation.
Observable tissue properties are emergent consequences of interactions between cells following simple rules.
Ultimately, cells can only perform a limited set of actions: remain unchanged, die, copy, change identity, and change location.
The speaker believes that biology would benefit from focusing on simple underlying principles and rules that generate observable phenomena, rather than just describing the observables themselves.
Tissues are not well defined, and current classifications have limited utility. The speaker argues we need to understand the patterns, rules, and themes that determine tissue organization.
Relations between cell types, defined based on how they interact and influence each other, may provide deeper insights into tissue organization than just describing cell types themselves.
The availability of growth factors determines the composition of tissues. The rules that ensure appropriate growth factor production in specific locations are not well understood.
Interactions and exchange of growth factors between cell types can lead to stable ratios and organization, but only under certain circuit designs.
Some cells are more important than others for tissue architecture. The most fundamental cell types for tissue organization are epithelial and mesenchymal cells.
As cells specialize in functions, they delegate non-essential functions to supportive cell types.
Sensing of environmental perturbations by one cell type can be linked to control of population size of another functionally related cell type via growth factor regulation.
Observable tissue properties are emergent consequences of interactions between cells following simple rules.
Ultimately, cells can only perform a limited set of actions: remain unchanged, die, copy, change identity, and change location.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEpxzickKEc