Nick Monk

Deparment of Computer Science, (Computational Biology), University of Sheffield
My goal is to employ theoretical and mathematical modelling to gain insight into basic mechanisms of intercellular signalling. Specific areas in which I am active include developmental biology and cytokine signal transduction


Development as a Creative Process
Development is the generative process leading from a single fertilised egg cell to the distinctive morphology of a multicellular organism. Central to the process is the differential assignment of fates and roles to the cells resulting from the multiple rounds of cell division that follow fertilisation. The spatio-temporal patterning of cell fate assignments is informed by the information encoded in the genome, but depends crucially on the context in which cells find themselves at each stage of development. Cells determine context by constant communication with their neighbours. The self-organised unfolding of form represents the core creative aspect of development. However, there is a second dimension to creativity that is strikingly illustrated by the ability of developing organisms to adapt both to naturally variable conditions and to more radical perturbation. This adaptive ability reveals that the 'rules' underlying cell communication encode multiple ways of achieving an appropriate final morphology. I will give a broad overview of the generative process that lies at the heart of development, and suggest ways in which insights gained from the study of development might be applied more broadly.

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