Hideo Iwasaki presents papers on the interface between science and art during the biology workshop.

Synthetic biology is a new approach to bioengineering. It involves modeling and the construction of organisms at the molecular scale, or the redesign of parts, devices or natural biological systems. It is a technology that seeks specific objectives through an intentional design. Instead of evolutionary pressures, the world of the living beings becomes a product of design choices. Through a fast progress, it has generated expectations to produce new biological applications in medicine, agribusiness, genomics, energy and other areas.

"It is a field that offers a new insight on how to relate to life. Its rapid advancement has resulted in many scientific and philosophical debates because it produces advances that lead to some exaggerations. Therefore, synthetic biology causes interest in some designers and artists involved in biotechnology," said biologist and artist Hideo Iwasaki, from the Waseda University, at the Biology Workshop of the second day of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA).

Grossmann and Iwasaki debating.

Martin Grossmann, former director of the IEA-USP and member of the Senior Committee for the ICA, chaired the debates of Iwasaki's presentation and drew attention to the unusual union between biology and art. According to Grossmann, Iwasaki has innovated with the presented theme, a mix of science, technology and design.

Coordinator of the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Network & Biomedia Art at Waseda University, Iwasaki talked about the work of the Synthetics Aesthetics, an experimental project run by the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University. In 2010 the most renowned synthetic biologists, artists and social scientists gathered to explore collaborations focused on the conception, construction and understanding of the living world.

At the time, Iwasaki developed the project "Biogenic Timestamp" in partnership with Oron Catts, from the Aalto University of Helsinki. The work was defined by the microbiologist as a "critique to the hype of synthetic biology, a provocation on the link between the scale of geological time and the biological one."

They worked with tissue culture from cyanobacteria, a group of bacteria that obtains energy by photosynthesis and is among the most primitive forms of life. The community was applied to a computer board, which has undergone the action of these organisms to date. The work was exhibited in Austria and Japan. According to the creators, the experiment shows that the bacteria are able to internalize our technologies and creations, and modify them as they please.

Engineering principles applied to the complexity of living systems: biology transformed into a new design material.

Another project, no less surreal by Western standards, is inspired by a relatively ancient habit in Japan, which is to create monuments in memory of insects, snails, plants, various objects and even the spirit of sperms.

Iwasaki showed that in some medical and research institutions, such as the Department of Human Sciences at the Waseda University, there is the habit of annual celebrations held in honor of animals used in experiments. In zoos there are funeral ceremonies for animals that have died. In 1971 a monument was created to honor the spirit of sperms.

Iwasaki thought of a memorial for artificial cells. "I am a microbiologist, so I can finally pray for the bacteria we use in experiments," he compared.

“The memorial service for synthetic cells” is the name of the technical and artistic work by Iwasaki, which will be displayed during the Kenpoku Art Festival 2016, a great show that dialogues with nature and art, incorporating science and technology. It is held in six cities in the northern Ibaraki Prefecture.

According to Iwasaki, his work is scientifically "stimulating, because it forces to think what life is in fact." The two projects that the scientist presented at the workshop seem to handle different things, but they actually "deal with the issue of time and how humans are involved with life," he said.

He cited a paper on the establishment of a bacterial cell from a chemically synthesized genome. "There is no common sense among scientists to answer if it is a living organism or a type of synthetic life. So I see that each one's subjective criterion of what life is is required for this kind of judgment," he added.

Photos: IAR/Nagoya

syntheticaesthetics.org

Group photo on the first day of the ICA's second phase.

The activities of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA) have started in Nagoya. This second stage, to be held from March 6 to 18, continues the work begun in 2015, in São Paulo. Thirteen young researchers are preparing an online course on the subject "Time." The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be available for free on a virtual platform, possibly Cousera.

The opening ceremony, held on March 7 at the Nagoya University, was chaired by Hitoshi Sakakibara, and had the participation of the institution's president, Seiichi Matsuo. Further attendees were Martin Grossmann, former director of the IEA-USP and member of the Senior Committee for the ICA, Carsten Dose, executive director of the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) and General Secretary for the ICA, and Hisanori Shinohara, director of the Institute for Advanced Research (IAR), co-organizer of the project and host of its second phase in Nagoya. After the welcome remarks, the research team conducted an acquaintance tour on the Higashiyama campus.

Physicist Hideyo Kunieda, advisor and vice president of the Nagoya University, gave the opening speech. He highlighted the motto of the University of São Paulo, "Sciencia Vinces" (Latin for "conquer by science"), drawing attention to the importance of this message to the present day. By presenting an overview of the research conducted at the Nagoya University, Kunieda stressed out the fact that six professors of the institution have recently been awarded the Nobel Prize. Kunieda was in São Paulo participating in the first phase of the Intercontinental Academia from April 17 to 29 last year, and gave a lecture on the theme time in astronomy.

Physicist Hideyo Kunieda presenting an overview of the research conducted at the Nagoya University.

Award-winning research

Ryoji Noyori won the Nobel Prize in 2001 and Osamu Shimomura in 2008, both in Chemistry. Also in 2008, professors Makoto Kobayashi e Toshihide Maskawa shared the award in Physics with Yoichiro Nambu, from the University of Chicago.

In 2014, another Nobel in Physics for the Nagoya University: Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano shared the award with Shuji Nakamura, from the University of California in Santa Barbara. The white LED, popular for being an economical source of light, was a creation of this trio of scientists.

Kunieda drew attention to the fact that some studies take decades to get to be a relevant invention. Hence the importance of young researchers to build the future. "But the role of a great mentor is also important," he said.

Attracting young talent is among the Nagoya University internationalization strategies, according to Kunieda. The institution promotes student symposiums, offers short and medium-term courses, short and long-term visits, exchanges between researchers, cooperative agreements and other actions.

Among the innovative projects of the Nagoya University there is the Center for Integrated Research of Future Electronics (CIRFE), whose research has resulted in savings of 7% in electricity costs in Japan, and the Institute of Innovation for Future Society, focused on applied research involving several areas.

Intellectual courage

Martin Grossmann thanked whoever has contributed to bring the ICA to life. The project of gathering young researchers from around the world to a work that lasts a whole year was released in 2012 during a meeting of the UBIAS Steering Committee held at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study, in New Delhi.

Martin Grossmann, former director of the IEA-USP and member of the Senior Committee for the ICA.

Grossmann remembered the master classs given by Professor José Goldemberg, former president of USP and current president of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), during the first meeting of the ICA, in São Paulo. Goldemberg was asked what a young researcher profile should be to meet the challenges of career and the university of the future. "They should be aggressive," he said.

Grossmann pointed out that the meaning of "being aggressive" in the world of science could be translated to "being bold" or "having intellectual courage", which coincides with the motto of the Nagoya University: "cultivate the intellectual courage."

Interdisciplinary approach is fundamental to the university of the future, according to Grossmann, speaking of the research at the IEA-USP. "To listen to the others, even if from different disciplines, is fundamental to the advancement of science," he said.

"How can a network of young researchers have some relevance when there is a secular institution like university? The answer is to promote research and interdisciplinary encounters that allow to associate science, culture and technology," said Grossmann.

Facilitating interdisciplinary dialogue

"The Nagoya University has been playing a leading role and giving decisive support for the activities of the UBIAS," said Carsten Dose. "This is a leading institution on a global scale and, therefore, to be here in the second phase of the ICA is a privilege."

Carsten Dose, from the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) and General Secretary for the ICA.

Dose recalled the origins of the ICA and the UBIAS network, thanked the hospitality of the host university and the partnerships that enabled all the activities. "The ICA reminds us of what is essential for our institutions, which is to bring together young researchers in a work that facilitates dialogue between different disciplines and different countries," he said.

He remembered the advantages of having institutes for advanced studies related to universities, because these units have bases for producing science more freely, in a way that conventional institutions can not.

In a direct message to the young researchers of the ICA, Dose said he wanted "ambition" to be maintained, as well as the search for "new ideas to make the ICA keep advancing."

The IAR in expansion

Hisanori Shinohara presented the principles, activities and structure of the IAR. "We work with a small staff, as required by the modern institutions, but we intend to expand during my management, not only in terms of human resources but also in terms of budget," he said.

Hisanori Shinohara, from the IAR-Nagoya, presenting the Institute's activities

Shinohara highlighted that the principles governing the IAR are reporting research excellence produced at Nagoya University and the IAR to the academic community, giving substantial support to research excellence and promoting the independence of prominent researchers.

The academic advisory board of the IAR has 13 members, including the six scientists that have been awarded with the Nobel Prize. The institute currently has six research projects in progress. It seeks to encourage and promote informal interdisciplinary activities, promote meetings between young researchers and renowned academics, promote research exchanges with international institutions and manage a research fellowship program.

Biologist Regina Markus spoke to participants of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA) about the relationship between melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep, and the activation of the immune system, during the conference Stop, Stop, Stop… A Necessary Pause in the Flow of Time, held on Sunday, April 26.

Markus, who is member of the IEA-USP’s scientific committee for the ICA, focused on the temporal organization of biological cycles influenced by variations of light, and particularly on the Theory of Immune-Pineal Axis, developed by her research group at the Chronopharmacology Laboratory of the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo, which she heads.

According to this theory, when attacked by a pathological agent – e.g., a virus, fungus or bacteria – and has to defend itself quickly, the body forces a temporary halt of its circadian clock, which is responsible for synchronizing internal rhythms and the external environment. During this pause, the regulation of diurnal and nocturnal biological functions becomes secondary and gives way to an innate immune response.

Markus presented a series of experiments conducted in vitro (in the controlled environment of the laboratory) and in vivo (in tissues from living organisms) in her laboratory, which show that the temporary halt of the circadian clock is possible thanks to the two-way communication that exists between the immune system and the pineal gland, located in the central region of the brain and responsible for synchronizing body rhythms and the so-called light/dark cycles.

Under normal conditions and if the body is not under threat, when night falls darkness stimulates the pineal gland to produce melatonin. The hormone, known as “hormone of darkness” or “sleep hormone,” enters the bloodstream and tells every cell that it is night, paving the way for a state of drowsiness. In contrast, at dawn, the increasing intensity of light inhibits the gland and the production of melatonin ceases, allowing the body to awaken and become active for the day.

This hormonal mediation between body and mind regulates the biological clock, enabling the organism to make the necessary adjustments to maintain the 24-hour life cycles.

A PAUSE IN TIME

However, in the presence of an external threat, the melatonin production is altered and the fine tuning between biological rhythms and ambient light is interrupted.

To reach this conclusion, Markus hypothesized that the functions of the “hormone of darkness” go beyond regulating sleep and extend to defending the organism – or, more specifically, to acting as a blood-brain barrier (the chemical mechanism that filters what can reach the brain).

The barrier acts as a gate; when closed, it prevents leukocytes (the body’s defense cells) in the bloodstream from migrating to healthy tissues and generating an undue immune response, which Markus calls “spurious inflammation.”

Markus explained that melatonin is a key element in the functioning of this barrier: the hormone inhibits the permeability of the cell layer of blood vessels, preventing leukocytes from unnecessarily traversing to tissues.

However, if pineal receptors receive information that an infectious agent has entered the body, the gland blocks the synthesis of melatonin. In the absence of the hormone, the blood-brain barrier opens and allows the immune cells to pass from the bloodstream to the injured tissue. This creates the necessary conditions for the body to react quickly to the threat of a pathogen, and is the first phase of the innate immune response.

On the other hand, if melatonin levels in the blood are reduced, then the regulation of the light/dark cycles is compromised and the body cannot synchronize internal rhythms with daytime and nighttime.

According to Markus, that is why the biological clock becomes misadjusted when we are sick. “During the first stage of the immune response, the body needs to stop in time to recover. This is what happens when we have a cold and cannot sleep at night, but are sleepy during the day.”

Photos: Leonor Calasans/IEA

Directed by Rafael Urban and Larissa Figueiredo, the film has been edited by João Menna Barreto. Cinematographer Jessica Candal Sato completes the team. The idea of the documentary is to synthesise the spirit and the activities of the ICA. The full academic, social and cultural programme of the event was attended by the four filmmakers, who interviewed the creators of the project.

The Intercontinental Academia is a project of the University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study (UBIAS), a network that brings together 36 institutes for advanced study of universities from all continents. The IEA-USP and the IAR-Nagoya have hosted the first edition. The phase held in Brazil was part of the Global Networks of Young Researchers program of the Olavo Setubal Chair of Arts, Culture and Science, based on IEA with the support of Itaú Cultural. The second phase, held in Japan last March, will also be reported by a documentary. Alexandre Rogoski, João Castelo Branco are Renata Corrêa have been responsible for the footage.

In the assessment of Renato Janine Ribeiro, Minister of Education, the university of the future should be conceived in terms not only of training for specific careers, but also of comprehensive cultural development to broaden and diversify people’s worldview. He spoke on this issue at a workshop with participants of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA) held on the morning of Friday, April 24.

Janine, who is also member of IEA’s scientific committee for the ICA and coordinator of IEA-USP's Research Group The Future Inquires Us, stressed that his exposition was not an official speech as minister, but a utopian exercise aimed at reflecting on what the university might become in the next forty or fifty years.

For him, the main issue to consider when imagining the university of the future is the need to go beyond professionalization: “We must think of a higher education system more concerned with sharpening minds to help them understand reality better.”

The professional life of many graduates from some of the most popular university courses in Brazil attest the need for change. According to Janine, nearly 20% of medical school graduates do not go on to become doctors. “This should set off an alarm signal, because students devote six years to a very difficult and very specific course and then leave everything aside,” he noted.

The situation is more worrisome in law schools. The minister said that although data are not accurate, most graduates do not pass OAB’s bar exam and, therefore, do not practice law. The same pattern is repeated in management courses and many others. “We are convinced that we have to change our curricula to offer broader university courses.” The first step toward this, he pondered, is to revamp the agendas of the universities and prepare them for changes that are already underway, two of which he underlined: diminishing social inequality and increased longevity.

EQUALITY

Recalling ideas of French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville, “a shrewd observer of the 19^th century political scene,” Janine said we are moving into an increasingly egalitarian world, in which social inequalities will not disappear but will lose their old justifications, a world that will see significant advances in the rights of those who were formerly excluded from it.

“Looking at the past 250 years, one can see that equality has indeed increased in terms of social justice, freedom and diversity, with greater inclusion of women and other groups historically discriminated against,” he said.

Social mobility in Brazil over the past decade would be example of this. Janine recalled the well-known images of the social pyramid and lozenge: in 2005, Brazilian society could be represented by a pyramid: a base made up of 100 million people in conditions of great poverty and misery, the so-called D and E classes; the mid-range, corresponding to the C class, had 50 million people; and at the top were the 40 million that constituted the privileged A and B classes.

By 2010, the pyramid had given way to a diamond-shaped lozenge: the base was reduced to 50 million people; the mid-range doubled in size to encompass 100 million people; and the top richest gained momentum, rising to 50 million. “In five years, 25% of the population in extreme poverty joined the C class, acquiring lower middle class status.”

If society is becoming more egalitarian, Janine reckoned, one can assume that access to university will tend to become a universal right. “If we hope get close to providing higher education to everyone that wishes, the university will have to be different: it cannot continue to focus on professional training, but must provide an overall cultural education that gives meaning to people’s lives,” he concluded. The university will become part of the life of every citizen and an expression of the education required for a person achieve personal and professional fulfillment in life.

In his view, Brazil is already moving toward broad access to higher education, although it is still far from reaching the ultimate goal. He cited some data to support his point of view: in 1968, when he became a Philosophy undergraduate, Brazilian universities had approximately 100,000 students. In 2003, the number was already slightly more than 3 million, and today it exceeds 7 million, or 20% of the population in the 20-29 age bracket. “When a country reaches the 15% tier, it ceases to be elitist in terms of access to higher education. Thus, we are currently no longer an elitist nation. We still have a long way to go, to be sure, but we have progressed,” he said.

LONGEVITY

The second transformation mentioned by Janine refers to the exponential increase in the population’s life expectancy. According to the minister, we are moving toward a time when to live 100 years will no longer be an exceptional feat and will become commonplace. “In this new world, the choices you make when you’re 20 cannot determine the results you will obtain when you’re 60,” he warned.

For Janine, increased longevity brings up the question of openness to changes, which are likely to become more frequent as age advances. That’s because people that live longer remain in the labor market for a longer period and will have more time to change their professional career.

“Currently, we deem it more important that you remain true to the profession you studied than faithful to your partner. But we live in a world where changes happen and are normal. People will change their identity several times throughout their life, and this includes changes in occupation and jobs,” he said.

The new scenario on the horizon imposes a more flexible university system, the minister explained, capable of preparing students to shift from one area to another, without this being seen as a sign of failure or immaturity. He questioned the current mindset that sees the withdrawal from a university course as a personal failure. “Why? Life goes on. You have to accept the idea of change. A college degree cannot dictate one’s future life and need not be a definitive professional milestone.”

THINKING A NEW MODEL

To explain the model of the university of the future he has in mind, Janine used as an example the project of an experimental interdisciplinary humanities course that he developed for the University of São Paulo, but was never implemented.

The course was divided in four semesters, the first of which would have “Modernity” as its central theme: the disciplines would revolve around the emergence of the modern age and would discuss above all rationalism, relying on authors like Descartes, Durkheim and Max Weber. The perspective of the visual arts and literature would also be included, with analyses of novels centered on problematic heroes, such as Don Quixote and Madame Bovary, which represent  “the shadow, the dark side of Modernity,” he said.

The second semester would offer disciplines centered in anthropology and in antiquity, and would establish a counterpoint to modernity. The third would include disciplines enabled students to discuss post-modernity, focusing on contemporary thought and on critiques to modern thinkers.

According to Janine, the course was designed to offer students different views on the same subject. Sociology, for instance, is concerned with studying the flaws of modernity. Anthropology is averse to modernity and does not believe in progress and in a hierarchy of cultures. And Political Science tends to believe that the world can be better if it becomes more rational, which is what modern thinkers assume.

“The courses would not be mere expositions of content, but different lenses through which to see social phenomena. Students would learn to analyze events from the most appropriate perspective. There is no single universal lens.”

He said that, much like the university of the future, the course would broaden people’s worldview. “We must become cultural and scientific polyglots; we must know the different areas and disciplines and how to integrate them,” he said.

In addition to Janine’s conference, the ICA program includes two others sessions that discuss the theme “University:” a master class on the 80^th anniversary of the University of São Paulo, with former president José Goldemberg, which took place on April 20, and a debate with university presidents and education experts about the future of the university, held on the afternoon of Friday, April 24.

Photo 1: Leonor Calasans/IEA
Photo 2: Marcos Santos/Jornal da USP

The Scientific Committee of the third edition of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA) has selected Carla Aparecida Arena Ventura, a professor of Nursing at USP's campus in Ribeirão Preto, to participate in the two phases of the program, which will take place in Asia and Europe. Ventura had been one of the three pre-selected candidates by the IEA. In Singapore, the event will from March 19 to 28, 2018. The second workshop, which will be held in Birmingham, will be in March 2019.

Organized by the institutes for advanced studies of the University of Birmingham and the Nanyang University of Technology, Singapore, the next edition of the ICA will have 'Laws: Rigidity and Dynamics' as its theme, which has been chosen to generate an intellectual debate about the concept of laws, since these have different meanings in different settings, cultures and individuals.

'The theme demands reflection, analysis and comparison to elucidate the origins of laws and the tensions between them. Whether examining laws conceived by the humanity or natural laws, there is potential for great interactions between different disciplines and to generate knowledge from it,' explain the organizers.

Upon being selected, Ventura will have her travel expenses paid by the IEA, fully or partially, depending on the agreement with the host Institutes.

The ICA is a program of the University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study (UBIAS), a network that brings together 36 institutes of advanced studies from universities of all continents. The first edition of the program, whose central theme was 'Time', has been organized by the IEA and Nagoya University's Institute for Advanced Research. The second edition happened in 2016 in Jerusalem and in Bielefeld, with the theme 'Human Dignity.'

Profile

Carla Ventura holds a degree in International Relations from the University of Brasília (UnB) and a Law degree from UNESP, where she has also obtained her Masters in International Law. In addition to these, she holds a PhD in Administration from USP.

She is currently a professor of the Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Human Sciences at USP's School of Nursing at Ribeirão Preto, where she teaches about human rights, health, development, mental health, bioethics and nursing legislation, among others. She also coordinates a global health research group, leading a team of undergraduates, masters, doctors and postdocs.