2025/03/15 by Mónica Bettencourt‐Dias, Amy S. Gladfelter, G.K. Dey +1 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Climate Change and Health Impacts
paper · pdf · doi:10.1242/jcs.263987
openalex publication_date 2025/03/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The molecular and cellular biology community has always been driven by a fascination with mechanisms – how proteins interact, how organelles communicate and how cells respond to stimuli. Yet one of the richest frontiers for discovery remains largely unexplored – how might cellular mechanisms enable adaptation to extreme environments and rapid climate change. For instance, how might stress granules sequester specific transcripts during environmental challenges? How might organelle contact sites coordinate stress responses across subcellular compartments? How might cellular phase separation mechanics enable rapid adaptation to environmental fluctuations? How might complex cell symbiotic interactions, many of which are very relevant for human and planetary health, be affected by environmental challenges? These processes are central problems in cell biology that underpin biological responses to climate stressors.Cells are first responders to environmental fluctuations yet there is a striking disconnect between cell biology and climate science studies. In addition, climate discussions at policy forums rarely highlight cellular mechanisms, despite their fundamental importance to biological adaptation. But this disconnect goes beyond science and policy; it is found even within education and the scientific community. As Yale's Karla Neugebauer observed in her recent work, students are passionately interested in applying cellular biochemistry to climate challenges, but university curricula are slow in incorporating this pivot in application. Her undergraduate course ‘Biochemistry and Our Changing Climate’ has inspired students to understand how fields like cell biology and biochemistry can address climate issues, from coral bleaching to carbon fixation (Chen et al., 2023).Recent Cell Bio ASCB|EMBO Conferences have begun to highlight the important roles that cell biologists can play in tackling climate resilience, beginning with keynote lectures in 2023 and continued in a session in 2024. These talks and sessions were packed with scientists, particularly early-career researchers. This enthusiasm reflects a growing recognition that cell biology offers unique insights into climate resilience and, more broadly, adaptation to ‘human impact’. To advance this emerging frontier faster, we are convening researchers at an EMBO Workshop entitled ‘Integrating Cell and Planetary Scales to Address Climate Resilience’ (April 13–16, 2025, Lisbon, Portugal). The workshop will feature keynote addresses from field-bridging leaders: Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO Chief Scientist (Geneva, Switzerland), will provide crucial perspectives on the intersection of climate change and global health policy, while Dr Pam Silver (Harvard University, Cambridge, USA) will share her pioneering work on synthetic microbiology approaches to sustainability, including bioplastic production and engineered carbon capture systems.The invited speakers, just to name a few, showcase emerging research at the intersection between cell biology and climate studies. For example, work led by Flora Vincent (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany) on marine phytoplankton reveals cellular adaptations that directly influence carbon cycling. Nicole Webster's (Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, Australia) investigations into tropical reef sponge microbiomes demonstrate how host–microbiome interactions at the cellular level affect ecosystem health. Blanche Capel's (Duke University, Durham, USA) research on temperature-dependent sex determination shows how environmental temperature influences cellular signalling pathways and epigenetics with population-level consequences. Phil Cleves (Carnegie Institution, Washington DC, USA) is uncovering the cellular mechanisms underlying coral–algal endosymbiosis, offering potential interventions to enhance reef resilience. Lucia Strader (Duke University) is identifying how plant cells use biomolecular condensates to integrate environmental cues with development, providing insights into plant stress responses.Moreover, several of the speakers illustrate the practical implications of cell biology-focused climate studies. Eric Danquah's (University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana) work on engineering drought-resistant crops leverages cellular stress-response pathways to enhance agricultural sustainability. Nina Gunde-Cimerman's (University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia) studies on fungi in arctic environments provide insights into cellular adaptations to extreme conditions. Tobias Erb's (Max Planck Institute, Marburg, Germany) development of synthetic CO2-fixation pathways demonstrates how engineered cellular systems can improve carbon capture beyond natural metabolism. Ben Engel's (BioZentrum, Basel, Switzerland) integration of cellular electron microscopy with multimodal data is revealing how marine algae adapt structurally to changing oceans.Importantly, the workshop will include policy and funding experts to help translate cellular insights into actionable climate resilience strategies. Through structured discussion sessions, participants will develop a white paper outlining research priorities at this intersection, creating a roadmap for this interdisciplinary and exciting field. We imagine the construction of an evolving professional network for trainees to envision a future applying cell and molecular approaches to climate understanding and solutions. Our goals include establishing a collaborative framework for this interdisciplinary field, developing experimental approaches for studying cellular responses to realistic climate scenarios, and creating funding, communication and stakeholder engagement priorities to advance this critical research.Registration is still open for this exciting meeting, so we encourage you to join us – in person or virtually – to explore how cell biology research can contribute to climate resilience. We hope that by applying the lens of cell biology to climate challenges, we – as a community – can uncover fascinating fundamental mechanisms but also practical solutions for enhancing biological resilience in a changing world.For further details, please visit the workshop website.