Physics of Living Systems

Latest articles

1. 1. Physics of Living Systems

   Shared behavioral mechanisms underlie C. elegans aggregation and swarming

   Siyu Serena Ding et al.

   Two seemingly distinct behaviors in social C. elegans worms, namely aggregating into groups and swarming over food, are driven by the same underlying mechanisms.
2. 1. Cell Biology
   2. Physics of Living Systems

   Spatiotemporal organization of branched microtubule networks

   Akanksha Thawani et al.

   A sequential reaction pathway involving TPX2, augmin and γ-TuRC governs the assembly and architecture of branched microtubule networks.
3. 1. Physics of Living Systems

   Spatial control of irreversible protein aggregation

   Christoph Weber et al.

   A theoretical basis for the spatial regulation of protein aggregation shows how aggregates can partition preferentially into intracellular liquid compartments.
4. 1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease
   2. Physics of Living Systems

   Influenza A virus surface proteins are organized to help penetrate host mucus

   Michael D Vahey, Daniel A Fletcher

   By distributing receptor-binding and receptor-destroying proteins asymmetrically on their surface, filamentous influenza A virus particles create a Brownian ratchet that facilitates their passage through mucus.
5. 1. Computational and Systems Biology
   2. Physics of Living Systems

   Imaging single-cell blood flow in the smallest to largest vessels in the living retina

   Aby Joseph et al.

   By using a specialized camera that corrects for eye blur, millions of single-blood-cells are imaged, and their speed measured, as they travel through the largest-to-smallest vessels of the retina.
6. 1. Evolutionary Biology
   2. Physics of Living Systems

   Environmental heterogeneity can tip the population genetics of range expansions

   Matti Gralka, Oskar Hallatschek

   Environmental heterogeneity can dramatically reduce the efficacy of selection and alter the neutral evolutionary dynamics in microbial range expansions.
7. 1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease
   2. Physics of Living Systems

   Mechanics and dynamics of translocating MreB filaments on curved membranes

   Felix Wong et al.

   Principal curvature-dependent motion of bacterial actin MreB results in localization consistent with all known literature.
8. 1. Physics of Living Systems

   Biophysics: Common concepts for bacterial collectives

   Hannah Jeckel et al.

   The expansion of bacterial swarms and the spreading of biofilms can be described by a unified biophysical theory that involves both active and passive processes.
9. 1. Physics of Living Systems

   A multiphase theory for spreading microbial swarms and films

   Siddarth Srinivasan et al.

   A multiphase hydrodynamic theory reveals that the dynamics of colony expansion in microbial swarms and biofilms are limited by the constraints of water and nutrient availability.
10. 1. Immunology and Inflammation
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Light-based tuning of ligand half-life supports kinetic proofreading model of T cell signaling

    Doug K Tischer, Orion David Weiner

    Direct control of ligand binding half-life with light shows that lifetime strongly affects T cell signaling.