Welcome to the website for the conference “Quantitative Biology 2019: Dynamic Signaling in Cells and Embryos”.

The “Quantitative Biology” annual conference series are organized mainly by the faculty members from the Center for Quantitative Biology (CQB) at Peking University. “Quantitative Biology” conference series started from 2000 and focuses on carefully chosen topics of quantitative biology. The chosen topic for this year is dynamic signaling in cells and embryos.

With the emergence of new quantitative measurement techniques, the frontier of quantitative biology is expanding from single-celled model organisms to more complex multicellular systems such as embryos. Quantitative imaging techniques enable the visualization of signaling dynamics at high spatiotemporal resolutions, while single-cell omics techniques provide a systems-level characterization of the dynamic signaling systems in cells and embryos. Increasing evidence from both types of techniques reveals that many signaling systems implement dynamic strategies to respond to stimuli and control key biological processes, from immune responses, to developmental pattern formation, and to disease progression. Meanwhile, new mathematical models and theoretical tools have been developed for decoding the mechanisms and functional roles of signaling dynamics in cells and embryos, and are expanding from pure gene network models to include more complex interactions such as the coupling between metabolites and gene regulation, and the coupling between cellular mechanics and intracellular signals.  

We feel that it would be timely and fruitful for the quantitative biology community to gather together and discuss the most recent advances in the related topics as well as where we should head for in the future. The main theme of the meeting is based on two related questions: 1) How do cells and embryos make decisions with dynamics-based strategies? 2) How can we achieve a systems-level understanding of cellular and embryo dynamics by integrating advanced imaging/omics tools and new theories? With more than 20 experts and deep thinkers from worldwide, we believe the meeting will help start a constructive dialog on this interdisciplinary area of biology research.

The three-day meeting will present invited long talks, contributed short talks, and poster sessions. We believe it will provide a great opportunity to discuss the latest discoveries and emerging technologies, as well as to meet with friends and colleagues.

We encourage researchers from different disciplines, such as biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering, to join us, and we hope that new thoughts, ideas, and collaborations will emerge in this open and interdisciplinary environment. We warmly welcome your participance and thank you for joing us.  

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