Related papers: Pattern engineering of living bacterial colonies u…
Collective behavior of bacterial colonies plays critical roles in adaptability, survivability, biofilm expansion and infection. We employ an individual-based model of an interstitial biofilm to study emergent pattern formation based on the…
Cells control fluid flows with a spatial and temporal precision that far exceeds the capabilities of current microfluidic technologies. Cells achieve this superior spatio-temporal control by harnessing dynamic networks of cytoskeleton and…
Semi-flexible filaments in living systems are constantly driven by active forces that often organize into mesoscale coherent flows. Although theory and simulations predict rich filament dynamics, experimental studies of passive filaments in…
Engineering simple, artificial models of living cells allows synthetic biologists to study cellular functions under well-controlled conditions. Reconstituting multicellular behaviors with synthetic cell-mimics is still a challenge because…
The presence of bacterial biofilms in clinical and industrial settings is a major issue worldwide. A biofilm is a viscoelastic matrix, composed of bacteria producing a network of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) to which bacteria…
Microfluidic valves play a key role within microfluidic systems by regulating fluid flow through distinct microchannels, enabling many advanced applications in medical diagnostics, lab-on-chips, and laboratory automation. While microfluidic…
Immotile microbes inhabit nearly every environment on Earth, from soils and sediments to food matrices -- yet how they disperse through these physically confining environments is poorly understood. Here, we show that immotile microbial…
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic devices have become a standard tool for engineering cells and multicellular networks in vitro. However, the reservoirs, or through-holes where cells access the devices, are usually fabricated…
Integrated micro-nanochannel networks in fluidic devices are desirable in a number of applications ranging from self-healing/cooling materials to bioengineering. The conventional micro-manufacturing techniques are capable of either…
High-density microfluidics is becoming an important experimental platform for studying complex biological systems such as synthetic gene regulatory networks, molecular biocomputating of engineered cells, distributing rapid point-of-care…
Bacterial colonies growing on surfaces are shaped by mechanical stresses transmitted through the community, governed by the balance between cell growth and steric and cell-substrate interactions. Using overdamped dynamics simulations of…
Biofilms inhabit a range of environments, such as dental plaques or soil micropores, often characterized by intricate, non-even surfaces. However, the impact of surface irregularities on the population dynamics of biofilms remains elusive…
Bacteria build multicellular communities termed biofilms, which are often encased in a self-secreted extracellular matrix that gives the community mechanical strength and protection against harsh chemicals. How bacteria assemble distinct…
Propagating spiral waves have been discovered in various chemical, biological and physical systems. Spiral waves in multicellular organisms are often associated with essential living functions. Although certain eukaryotic microorganisms…
Bacteria often develop distinct phenotypes to adapt to environmental stress. In particular, they can produce biofilms, dense communities of bacteria that live in a complex extracellular matrix. Bacterial biofilms provide a safe haven from…
We study numerically the hydrodynamics of dip coating from a suspension and report a mechanism for colloidal assembly and pattern formation on smooth and uniform substrates. Below a critical withdrawal speed of the substrate, capillary…
Collective motion of self-propelled organisms or synthetic particles often termed active fluid has attracted enormous attention in broad scientific community because of it fundamentally non-equilibrium nature. Energy input and interactions…
Living systems are capable of locomotion, reconfiguration, and replication. To perform these tasks, cells spatiotemporally coordinate the interactions of force-generating, "active" molecules that create and manipulate non-equilibrium…
The dynamics of cellular aggregates is driven by the interplay of mechanochemical processes and cellular activity. Although deterministic models may capture mechanical features, local chemical fluctuations trigger random cell responses,…
Microfluidics-based biochips are soon expected to revolutionize clinical diagnosis, DNA sequencing, and other laboratory procedures involving molecular biology. Most microfluidic biochips are based on the principle of continuous fluid flow…