Developmental biology began as a discipline for understanding the processes through which a single fertilized egg divides to proliferate and differentiate to give rise to multicellular organisms. With the rise of molecular biology in the latter half of the twentieth century， developmental biology has revealed the fundamental developmental principles common to a wide range of animal species， including humans. It also led to the creation of the research fields of stem cell biology and in vitro organogenesis， both of which have had major impacts on medicine， paving a path toward pluripotent stem cell-derived therapies. Developmental biologists have elucidated a rough framework of the developmental processes of model organisms， and are now shedding light on the mechanisms of early human development， which has long been a black box. The field of developmental biology has now reached an important cross road.

The aim of this symposium is to identify an unexplored area that should be tackled by future developmental biologists. We will invite Dr. Masatoshi Takeichi as a keynote speaker， and along with invited lectures， there will be opportunities available for oral and poster presentations. We look forward to receiving your applications.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kobe and the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research.