Biology Seminar by Dr. Koichiro Uriu on January 7, 2021

On January 7th, Dr. Koichiro Uriu gave a talk on one of the most important pattern formation in our body. Koichiro was an active member of iTHES, and is currently an assistant professor at Kanazawa Univ. Rhythmic (ON and OFF) and also spatial gene activity pattern, termed the segmentation clock underlies our body axis segmentation (“Taisetsu" in Japanese). Thus, robust gene activity oscillation propagates from the backward to the forward domain by which the segment is formed sequentially. In the seminar, Koichiro discussed the recovery processes of the segment formation after the removal of the drug which blocks oscillator coupling in a fish, called zebrafish. Curiously, experiments show that intermingled segments can occur in the body of the fish especially when the drug is removed at early stage. To understand the pattern recovery, he developed a physical model incorporating mechanics and genetic oscillations. During and after the talk, there were numerous questions from the audience because his talk was very interesting and also very clear. Thank you and see you, Koichiro!

- Gen Kurosawa