Blood vessels play a part in the transport of nutrients and oxygen to cells and tissues, while vascular endothelial cells themselves preserve the body's homeostasis by secreting substances that contribute to tissue maintenance in the process of their differentiation and proliferation (blood vessel formation). Cancer cells are able to multiply because they generate blood vessels in cells that did not originally have blood vessels and therefore become able to take in nutrients. Vascular abnormalities are said to be closely connected to infectious diseases such as COVID-19, along with a variety of other diseases. Shedding light on blood vessel formation will undoubtedly become a new approach to treating disease.

The extracellular environment —— that is to say, the environment outside the cell —— is composed of proteins secreted by cells and is deeply involved in cell function. The same can be said of vascular cells: it has been discovered that in arteries, which are exposed to the stresses of blood pressure and blood flow, rubberlike elastic fibers principally composed of a protein called elastin, which is secreted by vascular cells called smooth muscle cells (SMCs), are deeply involved in the development of arterial diseases such as aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection. Also underway is research into biomarkers for predicting the onset of disease using the knowledge obtained on the extracellular environment.

Measuring just 5 µm in internal diameter, the ultra-fine blood vessels called capillaries are known to play an important role in supplying oxygen and nutrients to cells and tissues. As we age, our capillaries become even finer and sparser. Once they enter this state, becoming what are called "ghost vessels", the blood flow through the capillaries declines and they become unable to transport oxygen and nutrients. As a result, the cells and tissues around the ghost vessels gradually become damaged and their function deteriorates. The latest research has identified a relationship between these ghost vessels and a variety of diseases, including lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Blood vessels are a very important part of the body. However, there are many aspects of their structure and function on which light has yet to be shed. In clinical settings, it is reportedly not uncommon to see blood vessels in inexplicable states. Developed to unravel such mysteries, high-resolution 3D imaging technology has succeeded in visualizing the vascular network in elaborate detail. As a result, the vascular network that scientists could hitherto only imagine has been revealed to be unexpectedly diverse. These new discoveries are likely to lead to treatments for various diseases.

The stimuli we receive via our sense of smell not only influence our mental state, making us feel pleasure or discomfort, but also sometimes even spur us to take some kind of action. Research into fear and avoidance behaviors resulting from odor components has already been applied in such areas as measures to prevent crop damage by wild animals, but it has emerged in recent years that olfactory receptors also influence human behavior. Also known as a happy hormone, oxytocin is a hormone that facilitates childbirth, but it also acts on receptors as a neurotransmitter that modulates various social behaviors and olfactory functions.

How can we transmit smells? For example, the three primary colors of vision are the basic elements in reproducing colors, but given that we have around 400 types of olfactory receptors, there are no standards for what one might describe as "primary odors." Accordingly, the reproduction of smells had been thought virtually impossible, but a way forward has at last become apparent. The first step is to make the odor components that will form the basis for a diverse array of smells by selecting and blending basic odor elements. It will reportedly be possible to reproduce smells remotely by combining these odor components in an "olfactory display."

Just like our vision and hearing, our sense of smell declines as we age. Annoyingly, unlike with our other senses, it can be hard to spot our olfaction failing and it is not something covered by routine medical examinations, either. However, a diminished sense of smell poses various problems in daily life, from making meals less tasty to depriving a person of the ability to immediately detect hazards such as rotting food, gas leaks, and fires. Furthermore, scientists have discovered a relationship between a waning olfaction and conditions that pose a risk of dementia and various other diseases: frailty and sarcopenia. It is therefore desirable to spot a decline in the sense of smell as soon as possible, and to use this insight for the prevention and early detection of disease.

Mammals' sense of smell is the oldest of the five senses and evolved in response to the environment. This sense is crucial to survival, protecting mammals against natural predators and helping them to avoid things that have gone rotten. For humans, olfaction also enables us to enjoy what we eat. It has been posited that humans' sense of smell exhibits a synergistic effect, in which the brain develops in order to obtain better food, with the pursuit of tastier food then resulting in the brain growing in size. Having evolved in this specific way in humans, olfaction might hold the key to unlocking the mystery of human evolution.

Plants cannot uproot themselves to go and find the optimal environment for their survival. The circadian clock is a crucial survival strategy enabling plants to stay alive while they respond appropriately to a changing environment. Each cell has a clock gene, and these genes are thought to be synchronized somehow. How is the circadian clock involved in the physiological phenomena of plants? And given that plants do not have a central organ equivalent to the mammalian brain, how do they synchronize their multiple clocks?

Over the course of their evolution, the ancestors of plants incorporated microbes called cyanobacteria and gained the ability to carry out photosynthesis to produce organic matter from inorganic substances. As a result, plants came to play a part in nourishing almost all living organisms. Furthermore, plants developed more sophisticated immune functions thanks to symbiosis with microorganisms called endophytes, evolving in tandem with them, leading to the acquisition of temperature resistance and other functions that minimized the adverse impacts of the external environments. The interests of plants and endophytes are similar, and one might say it was the providence of nature that resulted in their finding common ground after a long time.