Related papers: On the origin of order
We describe the onset of condensation in the simple model for the balance between selection and mutation given by Kingman in terms of a scaling limit theorem. Loosely speaking, this shows that the wave moving towards genes of maximal…
Synchronized oscillations are of critical functional importance in many biological systems. We show that such oscillations can arise without centralized coordination in a disordered system of electrically coupled excitable and passive…
We investigate the statistical mechanics of glass-forming materials and jamming matter by means of a geometrically driven approach based on a revised cell theory. By considering the system as constituted of jammed blocks of increasing…
The spontaneous formation of vortices is a hallmark of collective cellular activity. Here, we study the onset and persistence of coherent angular motion (CAMo) as a function of the number of cells $N$ confined in circular micropatterns. We…
The self-organised motion of vast numbers of creatures in a single direction is a spectacular example of emergent order. We recreate this phenomenon using actuated non-living components. We report here that millimetre-sized tapered rods,…
Angiogenesis is the complex process by which new blood vessels develop from an existing vasculature in order to supply nutrients and/or metabolites to tissues, playing a fundamental role in many physiological and pathological conditions…
The improbability of a spontaneously generated self-assembling molecule has suggested that life began with a set of simpler, collectively replicating elements, such as an enclosed autocatalytic set of polymers (or protocell). Since…
We consider a periodic extension of the classical Kingman non-linear model (Kingman, 1978) for the balance between selection and mutation in a large population. In the original model, the fitness distribution of the population is modeled by…
The motility of eukaryotic cells is strongly influenced by their environment, with confined cells often developing qualitatively different motility patterns from those migrating on simple two-dimensional substrates. Recent experiments,…
Collective cell migration plays an essential role in vertebrate development, yet the extent to which dynamically changing microenvironments influence this phenomenon remains unclear. Observations of the distribution of the extracellular…
There are numerous scenarios in which populations of cells migrate in crowded environments. Typical examples include wound healing, cancer growth and embryo development. In these crowded environments cells are able to interact with each…
Non-motile elongated bacteria confined in two-dimensional open micro-channels can exhibit collective motion and form dense monolayers with nematic order if the cells proliferate, i.e., grow and divide. Using soft molecular dynamics…
Cell migration is a fundamental process underlying the survival and function of both unicellular and multicellular organisms. Crawling motility in eukaryotic cells arises from cyclic protrusion and retraction driven by the cytoskeleton,…
A great number of biological organisms live in aqueous environments. Major evolutionary transitions, including the emergence of life itself, likely occurred in such environments. While the chemical aspects of the role of water in biology…
Cells coexist together in colonies or as tissues. Their behaviour is controlled by an interplay between intercellular forces and biochemical regulation. We develop a simple model of the cell cycle, the fundamental regulatory network…
Collective migration -- the directed, coordinated motion of many self-propelled agents -- is a fascinating emergent behavior exhibited by active matter that has key functional implications for biological systems. Extensive studies have…
A dynamic model for cell differentiation is studied, where cells with internal chemical reaction dynamics interact with each other and replicate. It leads to spontaneous differentiation of cells and determination, as is discussed in the…
Kingman's model describes the evolution of a one-locus haploid population of infinite size and discrete generations under the competition of selection and mutation. A random generalisation has been made in a previous paper which assumes all…
Cell polarization plays a central role in the development of complex organisms. It has been recently shown that cell polarization may follow from the proximity to a phase separation instability in a bistable network of chemical reactions.…
Collective cell motility plays central roles in various biological phenomena such as inflammatory response, wound healing, cancer metastasis and embryogenesis. These are biological demonstrations of the unjamming transition. However,…