Figure 4.

Conceptualization of key features of the emerging field of multi-scale biomedicine

(A) Schematic illustration of a multi-disciplinary field, suggesting impacts that insights from several diverse disciplines, specific tools, and computational approaches will have in biomedicine, neuroscience, synthetic bioengineering, and basic evolutionary developmental biology.

(B) A schematic of a generic closed-loop system in which an ex vivo cultured tissue or organ is being trained by rewards and punishments for specific morphogenetic, transcriptional, or physiological outcomes. Such systems can be used in basic research to identify the proto-cognitive capacities of cells and tissues or in regenerative/bioengineering contexts to achieve desired complex endpoints.

(C) A schematic of the deployment pipeline for medical intervention in which computational/AI algorithms (inference engine), fed with physiomic data and operating over an in silico simulation environment, can suggest stimulation protocols with specific drugs or other modalities, delivered by novel devices such as wearable bioreactors and other stimulation technology.

(B) is by Alexis Pietak. Image in (C) is by Jeremy Guay of Peregrine Creative.