Physics of Living Systems

Physics of Living Systems

eLife reviews research in which approaches from the physical sciences are used to provide insights into the properties of biological systems and processes. Learn more about what we review and sign up for the latest research.
Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Latest articles

    1. Neuroscience
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Nicotine-driven hyperactivation of larval locomotion

    Stephanie Dancausse, Jocelyn Robles ... Mason Klein
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Useful
    • Incomplete
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Universal length fluctuations of actin structures found in cells

    Aldric Rosario, Shane G McInally ... Jane Kondev
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Fundamental
    • Compelling
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Sarcomere dynamic instability and stochastic heterogeneity drive robust cardiomyocyte contraction

    Daniel Haertter, Lara Hauke ... Christoph F Schmidt
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Compelling
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Collective epithelial migration mediated by the unbinding of hexatic defects

    Dimitrios Krommydas, Livio N Carenza, Luca Giomi
    Theoretical and computational analyses demonstrate that cell intercalation within epithelial cell layers is analogous to the unbinding of topological defects in hexatic liquid crystals, offering a framework for calculating cellular forces and velocities during collective migration.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    A Coma Pattern-Based Autofocusing Method Resolves Bacterial Cold Shock Response at Single-Cell Level

    Sihong Li, Zhixin Ma ... Shuqiang Huang
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Differential interfacial tension between oncogenic and wild-type populations forms the mechanical basis of tissue-specific oncogenesis in epithelia

    Amrapali Datta, Phanindra Dewan ... Medhavi Vishwakarma
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Solid
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Quantifying Intracellular Mechanosensitive Response upon Spatially Defined Mechano-Chemical Triggering

    Elaheh Zare-Eelanjegh, Renard TM Lewis ... Tomaso Zambelli
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Valuable
    • Convincing
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Controlling the synchronization and symmetry breaking of coupled bacterial pili on active biofilm carpets

    Baha Altın, Enes Talha Günay ... Aşkın Kocabaş
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Solid
    1. Ecology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    A tale of two birds: cognitive simplicity drives collective route improvements in homing pigeons

    Shoubhik Chandan Banerjee, Fritz A Francisco, Albert B Kao
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Compelling
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Colony demographics shape nest construction in Camponotus fellah ants

    Harikrishnan Rajendran, Roi Weinberger ... Ofer Feinerman
    The architecture of an ant nest serves as a fossilized record of the colony's demographic history, with distinct growth patterns and catastrophic events through age-specific digging behaviors.
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Highlights

    1. Genetics and Genomics
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Raman Spectroscopy: Probing the proteome

    Wei-Hsiang Lin, Chia-Liang Cheng
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Cell Migration: Pump up the volume

    Qin Ni, Sean X Sun
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Protein Tracking: Everything, everywhere, almost at once

    Jacob Kæstel-Hansen, Nikos S Hatzakis

Senior editors

  1. Felix Campelo
    Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
  2. Aleksandra Walczak
    Ecole Normale Superieure, France
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