title: A dynamic architecture of life.
abstract: In recent decades, a profound conceptual transformation has occurred comprising different areas of biological research, leading to a novel understanding of life processes as much more dynamic and changeable. Discoveries in plants and animals, as well as novel experimental approaches, have prompted the research community to reconsider established concepts and paradigms. This development was taken as an incentive to organise a workshop in May 2014 at the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. There, experts on epigenetics, regeneration, neuroplasticity, and computational biology, using different animal and plant models, presented their insights on important aspects of a dynamic architecture of life, which comprises all organisational levels of the organism. Their work demonstrates that a dynamic nature of life persists during the entire existence of the organism and permits animals and plants not only to fine-tune their response to particular environmental demands during development, but underlies their continuous capacity to do so. Here, a synthesis of the different findings and their relevance for biological thinking is presented.
authors.affiliation: Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Beatrix P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brockes
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Galliot
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology & Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8008, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ueli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Grossniklaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.affiliation: CNR Neuroscience Institute, 56124 Pisa, Italy; Institute of Human Physiology, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mainardi
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR DIADE, Laboratoire Génome et Développement des Plantes, 66860 Perpignan, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirouze
authors.affiliation: Chaire des Processus Morphogénétiques, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Biologie, Paris, 75231, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prochiantz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Computer Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steger
keywords: computational biology; development; limb regeneration; neuroplasticity; plant epigenetics; repair regeneration; tissue homeostasis