Why we need mechanics to understand animal regeneration

Mechanical forces are an important contributor to cell fate specification and cell migration during embryonic development in animals. Similarities between embryogenesis and regeneration, particularly with regards to pattern formation and large-scale tissue movements, suggest similarly important roles for physical forces during regeneration. While the influence of the mechanical environment on stem cell differentiation in vitro is being actively exploited in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, comparatively little is known about the role of stresses and strains acting during animal regeneration. In this review, we summarize published work on the role of physical principles and mechanical forces in animal regeneration. Novel experimental techniques aimed at addressing the role of mechanics in embryogenesis have greatly enhanced our understanding at scales from the subcellular to the macroscopic – we believe the time is ripe for the field of regeneration to similarly leverage the tools of the mechanobiological research community.     

Why we need a clinical trial for vitamin K.

Vitamin K is given to many babies born in the United Kingdom, but we still do not know if it has substantial hazards. Because the population exposed to vitamin K is very large even quite small hazards would involve many adverse events. It is therefore important to be able to put reasonably close bounds on the potential damage that vitamin K prophylaxis could cause. Past research has not allowed us to do this but a large randomised controlled clinical trial of vitamin K against no vitamin K, enrolling only infants at low risk of haemorrhagic disease, would do so. There is no question that vitamin K is a useful treatment in babies at highest risk of haemorrhagic disease: the question is whether the trend towards use of vitamin K in lower risk babies should be encouraged.     

Why we need more algal metagenomes1

A recent perspective article ably argued that fully sequencing more algal genomes would enable progress in diverse areas of fundamental and applied studies. More algal genomes would add resources needed to build well‐supported phylogenies, improve our understanding of how horizontal gene transfer has influenced the evolution of algal genomes, provide useful ecological insights, and generate information essential to manipulating the genomes of industrially useful algae (J. Phycol. 51:1). We agree that more algal genomes would be quite beneficial, and also propose that more algal metagenomes would enable progress in both predictable and unforeseen directions.     

Individuality in seaweeds and why we need to care

Documenting the causes and consequences of intraspecific variation forms the foundation of much of evolutionary ecology. In this Perspectives piece, we review the importance of individual variation in ecology and evolution, argue that contemporary phycology often overlooks this foundational biological unit, and highlight how this lack of attention has potentially constrained our understanding of seaweeds. We then provide some suggestions of promising but underrepresented approaches, for instance: conducting more studies and analyses at the level of the individual; designing studies to evaluate heritability and genetic regulation of traits; and measuring associations between individual variation in functional traits and ecological outcomes. We close by highlighting areas of phycological research (e.g., population biology, ecology, aquaculture, climate change management) that could benefit immediately from including a focus on individual variation. Algae, for their part, provide us with a powerful and diverse set of ecological and evolutionary traits to explore these topics. There is much to be discovered.     

Why do we need signs in biological systems?

This paper addresses a fundamental question: Why are there sign-mediated interactions in biology? According to Polanyi, biological hierarchies are constituted through boundary conditions. I argue that signs, or more accurately the processes of signification, function as these boundary conditions. Moreover, based on general insights from the physics of computation, I argue that the organism cannot be computed directly from the DNA without the loss of critical information. In this context, signs as boundary conditions mediate the biological construction in a way that prevents the loss of information and destabilization of the DNA.     

Why we need more basic biology research,not less

Much of the spectacular progress in biomedical science over the last half-century is the direct consequence of the work of thousands of basic scientists whose primary goal was understanding of the fundamental working of living things. Despite this, many politicians, funders, and even scientists have come to believe that the pace of successful applications to medical diagnosis and therapy is limited by our willingness to focus directly on human health, rather than a continuing deficit of understanding. By this theory, curiosity-driven research, aimed at understanding, is no longer important or even useful. What is advocated instead is “translational” research aimed directly at treating disease. I believe this idea to be deeply mistaken. Recent history suggests instead that what we have learned in the last 50 years is only the beginning. The way forward is to invest more in basic science, not less.     

The need for broader ecological and socioeconomic tools to evaluate the effectiveness of coral restoration programs

Coral reef restoration initiatives are burgeoning in response to the need for novel management strategies to address dramatic global declines in coral cover. However, coral restoration programs typically lack rigor and critical evaluation of their effectiveness. A review of 83 peer‐reviewed papers that used coral transplantation for reef restoration reveals that growth and survival of coral fragments were the most widely used indicators of restoration success, with 88% of studies using these two indicators either solely (55%) or in combination with a limited number of other ecological factors (33%). In 53% of studies, reef condition was monitored for 1 year or less, while only 5% of reefs were monitored for more than 5 years post‐transplantation. These results highlight that coral reef restoration science has focused primarily on short‐term experiments to evaluate the feasibility of techniques for ecological restoration and the initial establishment phase post‐transplantation, rather than on longer‐term outcomes for coral reef communities. Here, we outline 10 socioecological indicators that comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of coral reef restoration across the four pillars of sustainability (i.e. environmental, sociocultural, governance, and economic contributions to sustainable communities). We recommend that evaluations of the effectiveness of coral restoration programs integrate ecological indicators with sociocultural, economic, and governance considerations. Assessing the efficacy of coral restoration as a tool to support reef resilience will help to guide future efforts and ensure the sustainable maintenance of reef ecosystem goods and services.