Biological Physics
We analyse the rheological behaviour of the generalised Maxwell and Kelvin-Voigt models with a power law spectrum of relaxation or retardation times, ${\cal H}\sim 1/\tau^{\alpha}$ or ${\cal L}\sim \tau^\alpha$, respectively. When…
External forces acting on a microswimmer can feed back on its self-propulsion mechanism. We discuss this load response for a generic microswimmer that swims by cyclic shape changes. We show that the change in cycle frequency is proportional…
Living systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Enzymatic activity can induce broken detailed balance at the molecular scale. This molecular scale breaking of detailed balance is crucial to achieve biological functions such as…
The use of eye-tracking techniques is becoming rapidly extended because of its relevance for acquiring information about cognition and behavior. Recent studies indicate that a correct characterization of the motion of the pupil inside the…
Gaining access to the cell interior is fundamental for many applications, such as electrical recording, drug and biomolecular delivery. A very promising technique consists of culturing cells on nano/micro pillars. The tight adhesion and…
In eukaryotic cells, motor proteins (MP) bind to cytoskeletal filaments and move along them in a directed manner generating active stresses. During cell division a spindle structure of overlapping antiparallel microtubules (MT) form whose…
The mechanisms associated with an owls ability to fly silently have been the subject of scientific interest for many decades and a source of inspiration in the context of reducing noise in both flapping and non-flapping flight. Here, we…
The mechanisms driving the collective movement of cells remain poorly understood. To contribute toward resolving this mystery, a model was formulated to theoretically explore the possible functions of polarized cell-cell adhesion in…
Optical bio-markers have been used extensively for intracellular imaging with high spatial and temporal resolution. Extending the modality of these probes is a key driver in cell biology. In recent years, the NV centre in nanodiamond has…
Biological growth is often driven by mechanical cues, such as changes in external pressure or tensile loading. Moreover, it is well known that many living tissues actively maintain a preferred level of mechanical internal stress, called the…
We present novel experimental results on pattern formation of signaling Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba in the presence of a periodic array of millimeter-sized pillars. We observe concentric cAMP waves that initiate almost synchronously at…
In mechanical manipulation experiments, a single DNA molecule overwound at constant force undergoes a discontinuous drop in extension as it buckles and forms a superhelical loop (a plectoneme). Further overwinding the DNA, we observe an…
We review, systematize and discuss models of diffusion in neuronal tissue, by putting them into an overarching physical context of coarse-graining over an increasing diffusion length scale. From this perspective, we view research on…
It is argued based on the results of both numerical modelling and the experiments performed on an artificial substitute of a meadow that the sound emitted by animals living in a dense surrounding such as a meadow or shrubs can be used as a…
Biological systems like ciliated microorganisms are capable to respond to the external chemical gradients, a process known as chemotaxis which has been studied here using the chiral squirmer model. This theoretical model considers the…
Multiple scales in metapopulations can give rise to paradoxical behaviour: in a conceptual model for a public goods game, the species associated with a fitness cost due to the public good production can be stabilised in the well-mixed limit…
The spatio-temporal organization of proteins and the associated morphological changes in membranes are of importance in cell signaling. Several mechanisms that promote the aggregation of proteins at low cell surface concentrations have been…
The bacterial genome is organized in a structure called the nucleoid by a variety of associated proteins. These proteins can form complexes on DNA that play a central role in various biological processes, including chromosome segregation. A…
Neuronal cells present periodic trains of localized voltage spikes involving a large amount of different ionic channels. A relevant question is whether this is a cooperative effect or it could also be an intrinsic property of individual…
Experiments on single ionic channels have contributed to a large extent to our current view on the function of cell membrane. In these experiments the main observables are the physical quantities: ionic concentration, membrane electrostatic…