Abstract：
The 21st Century is witnessing the transformation of biology from a descriptive to a physical, computational, and engineering science. Innovations in life sciences are being translated into societal benefits at an unprecedented speed. Prominent examples include CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing as a potential cure for sickle cell anemia, mRNA technology used to generate vaccines against COVID-19 and other diseases, and CAR-T cell therapy revolutionizing cancer treatment. On the horizon there are more breakthroughs in areas such as synthetic biology, AI in biology, human organoids and microbiome research.
It is not only biomedical and biotechnology fields which benefit from the current revolution in biology and life sciences in general. Inclusion of latest insights from fundamental molecular biology into environmental and climate models leads to significant improvements of modelling skills, and of overall understanding of the earth system. Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, a Russian-Ukrainian geochemist, hypothesizes already in his 1926 book“Biosphere”,that life is the geological force that shapes the earth, recognizing that theoxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere result from biological processes, and that living organisms could (re)shape the planet in the same manner as any geological or physical force. Yet, it has taken a long time to recognize this fundamental role of biology in the Earth’s climate system, due tolack collaboration between science communities concerned, and our disciplinary bias in teaching and academic education. More integrated and collaborative system approaches are now rapidly gaining space and attention.
The Human Frontier Science Organization (HFSPO) supports frontier, high risk- high gain research that breaks through existing paradigms by fostering collaborations between scientists from different countries and different disciplines, and by generating new tools that benefit the scientific and innovation communities. HFSP’s 2024-2032 Strategic Plan, “Frontier Life Science in a Time of Change,” projects a vision for exploring new horizons by openness and inclusivity across the globe, and by promoting and funding the “outside the box” thinking in research aeras in which international, interdisciplinary teams could revolutionize science.
In my presentation, I will review key principles and trends which characterize 21st century revolution in biological sciences, grounded in frontier basic high-risk-high-reward interdisciplinary science support as manifested by HFSPO.I will also explore consequences and challenges for the global academic and innovation enterprise, and will discuss opportunities arising from a closer collaboration withChina’s lifescience community.
