MANA MASUI

MANA MASUI

2017 Solely authored “The World Is Filled with Slime Molds” published by Asahi Press
2018 Peer-reviewed paper on allorecognition behavior of Myxomycetes published in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
2021 Original theory taken up in Stephenson & Rojas, ed., “Myxomycetes: Biology, Systematics, Biogeography and Ecology” 2nd Edition, a paper covering research findings on Myxomycetes
2021 Solely authored “MYXOVERSE — The World of Slime Molds” published by Shueisha
2022 Contributed paper in May issue of magazine Eureka
For the past 15 years, has held and received numerous lectures, academic society presentations, and prizes

I encountered Myxomycetes (slime molds) when I was five. When I was 7 years old, I started to study their behavior and at the age of 10, I began to study their allorecognition (self – non-self recognition). I discovered non-contact allorecognition and proposed the self-extension model when I was 17 years old (Masui et al., 2018.) Currently, I am focused on finding the mechanism behind this model and answering the question “why do Myxomycetes recognize self and non-self?”
I think understandings on Myxomycetes allorecognition will provide important clues to find why “the self” exists and how it is going to change in the future. I am also working hard to share findings on Myxomycetes and “the self” not only to researchers and experts, but to the general public , from children to adults.
I will keep on loving Myxomycetes and devote my life to mastering “the self.”