The "Quantitative Biology 2026: Systems and Physical Biology" conference was successfully held from July 20 to 23, 2026, at the Building 1, Zhongguanyuan Global Village, Peking University. Organized by the Center for Quantitative Biology at Peking University, the conference brought together over one hundred scholars from China and abroad. During the conference, participants shared their latest research advances and engaged in vibrant intellectual exchanges.
On the evening of July 20, the conference officially opened. Prof. Chao Tang, Director of the Center for Quantitative Biology at Peking University, delivered the opening remarks, extending a warm welcome to all participants, reviewing the conference's development history, and elaborating on the core theme of "Systems and Physical Biology." Following the opening remarks, Prof. Kim Sneppen from the University of Copenhagen delivered the opening lecture, exploring core issues such as signal transmission, molecular diffusion, and barrier effects in biological systems from multiple dimensions including spatial structure, biological behavior, and evolutionary dynamics, revealing the profound influence of spatial structure on biological dynamics.
Prof. Chao Tang Delivers Opening Remarks
Prof. Kim Sneppen Delivers the Opening Lecture
On the morning of July 21, Session 1 was chaired by Prof. Zhiyuan Li. Prof. Sergei Maslov from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presented his team's latest work on the ecology and evolution of microbial metabolic strategies in boom-and-bust environments, exploring how metabolic strategies and community structure-function relationships emerge under fluctuating conditions through the integration of ecological and evolutionary models. Prof. Xiongfei Fu from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, focused on cell state transitions beyond the small-noise limit, providing new theoretical tools for understanding how gene expression noise regulates cell fate decisions.
Prof. Sergei Maslov and Prof. Xiongfei Fu Presenting
Session 2 on the morning was chaired by Prof. Hang Yu. Prof. Shuqiang Huang from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, systematically presented the comprehensive survival strategies of bacteria under multi-dimensional environmental stresses (such as osmotic pressure, pH, and temperature), revealing how bacteria achieve stress resistance and environmental adaptation through the synergistic action of multiple survival mechanisms. Prof. Yuansheng Cao from Tsinghua University demonstrated the critical role of dynamic condensates in biological oscillatory systems, showing that condensate formation enhances the robustness of oscillatory rhythms by buffering protein concentration fluctuations. Prof. Yuping Chen from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed the limiting effect of intracellular spatial diffusion on translation initiation efficiency, pointing out that molecular diffusion constitutes a significant bottleneck in translation processes within large and highly polarized cells. Prof. Jintao Liu from Tsinghua University focused on biofilm research, revealing that the combined action of glucose and oxygen gradients jointly dictates the metabolic regime and antibiotic tolerance of bacteria, providing new theoretical foundations for clinical anti-biofilm infection strategies.
Prof. Shuqiang Huang, Prof. Yuansheng Cao, Prof. Yuping Chen, and Prof. Jintao Liu Presenting
Session 3 in the afternoon was chaired by Prof. Ming Han. Prof. Junhua Yuan from the University of Science and Technology of China revealed the physical mechanism of sperm flagella synchronization from a hydrodynamic perspective, discovering that hydrodynamic phase entrainment is the key factor driving flagellar coordinated motion. Dr. Yufei Wu from Duke University proposed a fluid-centric theory of notochord development, explaining how the embryonic notochord maintains structural stability through fluid pressure redistribution under mechanical perturbations. Prof. Hanqing Guo from Westlake University revealed the physical mechanism by which Par3 condensate wetting stabilizes adherens junctions, elucidating the reliability regulation mechanism of cell junctions within a bistable actomyosin architecture. Dr. Haowei Meng from Peking University presented a novel method for precise base editing guided by protein-DNA contact information predicted by AlphaFold3, significantly improving editing efficiency and specificity. Prof. Jiazhen Liu from Fudan University explored dynamical phase transitions in nonequilibrium networks from a statistical physics perspective, revealing the deep connection between network topology and dynamical behavior.
Prof. Junhua Yuan, Dr. Yufei Wu, Prof. Hanqing Guo, Dr. Haowei Meng, and Prof. Jiazhen Liu Presenting
Session 4 in the afternoon was chaired by Prof. Jie Lin. Prof. Dapeng Bi from Northeastern University systematically elucidated the mechanical properties of epithelial tissues from three dimensions — geometry, mechanics, and disorder — revealing how geometric disorder in cell arrangements influences tissue elasticity and mechanical response. Prof. Wei-Hsiang Lin from the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, presented quantitative measurement and mathematical modeling of E. coli growth and metabolic dynamics, achieving high-precision prediction of cellular physiological state dynamics under different culture conditions. Prof. Ziwei Dai from the Southern University of Science and Technology interpreted metabolic networks through the lens of resource allocation and optimization principles from economics, revealing how cells achieve globally optimal metabolic flux allocation under limited resources. Prof. Weikang Wang from the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, employed information geometry methods to characterize the sloppiness landscape during cell state transitions, discovering that cell state transitions follow the principle of least action. Prof. Xin Lai from Tampere University developed HallmarkGraph, a biologically grounded, interpretable graph neural network based on cancer hallmark knowledge, achieving both high accuracy and biological interpretability in pan-cancer classification tasks. Prof. Yao Li from Nankai University generalized the arrangement of zebrafish notochord cells into a broader cylinder packing problem, connecting biological morphogenesis with classical sphere packing theory.
Prof. Dapeng Bi, Prof. Wei-Hsiang Lin, Prof. Ziwei Dai, Prof. Weikang Wang, Prof. Xin Lai, and Prof. Yao Li Presenting Lively Discussions
On the morning of July 22, Session 1 was chaired by Prof. Jing-Dong Jackie Han. Prof. Jianhua Xing from the University of Pittsburgh re-examined the core value of theoretical biological physics in the AI era, pointing out that AI development needs to be integrated with first-principles physics to truly advance the understanding of the essence of life. Prof. Jae Kyoung Kim from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology introduced his team's methods for advancing static and time-series data analysis for biology and medicine, extracting interpretable dynamic patterns from high-dimensional data through advanced mathematical models, demonstrating broad application prospects in biological rhythms and disease mechanism research.
Prof. Jianhua Xing and Prof. Jae Kyoung Kim Presenting
Session 2 on the morning was chaired by Prof. Peijie Zhou. Prof. Qing Nie from the University of California, Irvine, demonstrated how to reconstruct the spatiotemporal organization of multicellular tissues from static single-cell omics data, providing a novel computational approach for understanding cell communication in development and disease. Prof. Xuefei Li from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, quantitatively characterized the spatial features of cellular neighborhoods in solid tumors, revealing the close association between the spatial organization of the tumor microenvironment and patient prognosis as well as the hot-cold immune transition. Prof. Huixia Ren from the Chinese Institutes for Medical Research revealed the global synchronization oscillation mechanism of pancreatic islet cell populations, demonstrating that intercellular synchronization is a key factor in maintaining fasting blood glucose homeostasis in vivo. Prof. Fangzhou Xiao from Westlake University constructed a unified mathematical framework for biological regulatory networks from a holistic geometric perspective, providing a novel analytical paradigm for systems biology.
Prof. Qing Nie, Prof. Xuefei Li, Prof. Huixia Ren, and Prof. Fangzhou Xiao Presenting
The afternoon session was chaired by Prof. Chen Song. Prof. Michael Stumpf from The University of Melbourne systematically explored the dynamical mechanisms of cell fate decision-making by integrating lineage tracing with landscape models, revealing the multistable dynamics underlying cell fate in development and disease. Prof. Andrew Mugler from the University of Pittsburgh theoretically derived the physical limits of cell sensing and decision-making from first-principles physics, providing a theoretical framework for understanding the precision-speed boundary of cellular information processing. Prof. Zeyu Shen from the Southern University of Science and Technology systematically explored the broad functions of percolation theory in biological systems, from cytoskeletal networks to cell population spreading, revealing how percolation thresholds determine the connectivity and function of biological systems. Prof. Qian Peter Su from the University of Technology Sydney comprehensively demonstrated the dynamic interplay of physical, chemical, and biological signals in living cells, revealing how the synergistic mechanisms of multi-dimensional interactions regulate cell behavior.
Prof. Michael Stumpf, Prof. Andrew Mugler, Prof. Zeyu Shen, and Prof. Qian Peter Su Presenting
On the morning of July 23, Session 1 was chaired by Prof. Yuling Jiao. Prof. Hao Li from the University of California, San Francisco, revealed a key genetic switch involving EGR1 and EZH2 that connects aging and development across human tissues, providing an important theoretical framework for understanding the molecular regulatory mechanisms of aging. Prof. Xiakun Chu from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) systematically elucidated from physical principles how the 3D genome achieves a delicate balance between structural stability and plasticity to enable precise gene regulation, offering new theoretical perspectives for understanding the coupling between chromatin structure and function.
Prof. Hao Li and Prof. Xiakun Chu Presentin
Session 2 on the morning was chaired by Prof. Xiaojing Yang. Prof. Yaojun Zhang from Johns Hopkins University systematically screened sequence features that control DNA cyclizability through large-scale computational and experimental approaches, providing key clues for chromatin structure regulatory elements in non-coding regions of the genome. Prof. Qiong Yang from the University of Michigan revealed the coordinated regulatory roles of energy and mechanical signals in embryonic clocks and pattern formation, constructing a quantitative model that integrates cellular metabolism and developmental timing. Prof. Qiyun Tang from Southeast University analyzed the novel mechanism of negative interfacial tension driven by intrinsic molecular disorder, providing a new physical picture for the formation and stability of membraneless organelles. Prof. Jiliang Hu from the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory revealed the emergent principles governing diversity, stability, and invasibility in ecosystems from the perspectives of statistical physics and ecosystem dynamics, providing a theoretical framework for predicting ecosystem responses to perturbations.
Prof. Yaojun Zhang, Prof. Qiong Yang, Prof. Qiyun Tang, and Prof. Jiliang Hu Presenting
In addition to the keynote presentations, the conference featured a dedicated poster session. During the conference, research posters from postdoctoral fellows and PhD students from China and abroad were displayed outside the main hall, covering a broad range of frontiers in quantitative biology: from gene regulatory networks to cell mechanics, from microbial communities to AI-assisted drug design, showcasing the diverse and insightful research perspectives of young investigators. Postdoctoral fellows and PhD students from different countries and research fields shared their research findings in detail around their posters, engaging in discussions with attendees. Many professors also stopped to view the posters, offering suggestions on research progress and engaging in in-depth exchanges on experimental design details. Academic discussions extended from the poster boards to the coffee break tables, ranging from optimization of data analysis to the limitless possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration. The vibrant atmosphere persisted throughout, with a particularly strong academic spirit, bearing witness to the exploratory passion of young researchers and sparking new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Participants Engaged in Lively Discussions at the Poster Session
Q&A Sessions
During the conference, each presentation included a dedicated Q&A session, with participants actively asking questions and engaging in in-depth academic exchanges with the speakers.
Q&A Session: Participants Actively Asking Questions
The conference concluded successfully with a rich program of academic presentations and exchange activities, fully embodying the scientific spirit and distinctive character of the Q-BIO series. It brought together diverse and insightful discussions in quantitative biology, where different schools of thought and research approaches inspired one another, with physics and biology principles intertwined as a common foundation. It was precisely the gathering of researchers from diverse backgrounds that enabled fruitful dialogue around the theme of "Systems and Physical Biology." With this, the Quantitative Biology 2026 International Conference came to a successful close.
