Biological Physics
Flagellar motility is critical to natural and many forms of assisted reproduction. Rhythmic beating and wave propagation by the flagellum propels sperm through fluid and enables modulation between penetrative progressive motion, activated…
We explain the principles of gene expression pattern stabilization in systems of interacting, diffusible morphogens, with dynamically established source regions. Using a reaction-diffusion model with step-function production term, we…
A phase field approach is proposed to model the chemotaxis of Dictyostelium discoideum. In this framework, motion is controlled by active forces as determined by the Meinhardt model of chemical dynamics which is used to simulate directional…
Predicting Pandemic evolution involves complex modeling challenges, often requiring detailed discrete mathematics executed on large volumes of epidemiological data. Differential equations have the advantage of offering smooth, well-behaved…
Thermogenesis is a physiological activity of releasing heat that originates from intracellular biochemical reactions. Recent experimental studies discovered that externally applied heat changes intracellular signaling locally, resulting in…
We develop methods for investigating protein drift-diffusion dynamics in heterogeneous cell membranes and the roles played by geometry, diffusion, chemical kinetics, and phase separation. Our hybrid stochastic numerical methods combine…
Isolating slower dynamics from fast fluctuations has proven remarkably powerful, but how do we proceed from partial observations of dynamical systems for which we lack underlying equations? Here, we construct maximally-predictive states by…
Cardiovascular disease affects millions of people worldwide and its social and economic cost clearly motivates scientific research. Computer simulation can lead to a better understanding of cardiac physiology, and for pathology presents…
Transport networks are typically optimized, either by evolutionary pressures in biological systems or by human design in engineered structures. In the case of systems such as the animal vasculature, the transport of fluids is hindered by…
Snakes can traverse almost all types of environments by bending their elongate bodies in 3-D to interact with the terrain. Similarly, a snake robot is a promising platform to perform critical tasks in various environments. Understanding how…
The study of the structure of viruses by X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) attracts more attention in recent decades. Such experiments are based on the collection of two-dimensional diffraction patterns measured at the detector after…
Membrane proteins typically deform the surrounding lipid bilayer membrane, which can play an important role in the function, regulation, and organization of membrane proteins. Membrane elasticity theory provides a beautiful description of…
We propose a model for bacterial Quorum Sensing based on an auxiliary electrostatic-like interac-tion originating from a fictitious electrical charge that represents bacteria activity. A cooperative mechanism for charge/activity exchange is…
Organisms must acquire and use environmental information to guide their behaviors. However, it is unclear whether and how information quantitatively limits behavioral performance. Here, we relate information to behavioral performance in…
Developing tissues need to pattern themselves in space and time. A prevalent mechanism to achieve this are pulsatile active stresses generated by the actin cytoskeleton. Active gel theory is a powerful tool to model the dynamics of…
Micro/Nano motors are micro to nano-sized particles and systems that are capable of motion in fluidic systems. Their motion can be a result of many mechanisms, one of the most well-known of which is electrolyte diffusiophoresis, in which…
Nanostructured surfaces enhance ion yields in matrix assisted laser desorption-ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). The spike protein complex, S1, is one fingerprint signature of Sars-CoV-2 with a mass of 75 kDa. Here, we show that…
The physics of signal propagation in a collection of organisms that communicate with each other both enables and limits how active excitations at the individual level reach, recruit and lead to collective patterning. Inspired by the…
A very high rate for cyclic electron flow (CEF) around PSI (~180 s-1 or 210 s-1 in minimum medium or in the presence of a carbon source respectively) is measured in the presence of methyl viologen (MV) in intact cells of Chlamydomonas…
Cells are dynamic systems characterized by temporal variations in biophysical properties such as stiffness and contractility. Recent studies show that the recruitment and release of actin filaments into and out of the cell cortex - a…