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. Physics of Living Systems

    Balancing stability and flexibility when reshaping archaeal membranes

    Miguel Amaral, Felix Frey ... Anđela Šarić
    Archaeal cells mix single-headed and double-headed lipids to construct resilient but flexible membranes to help them survive in extreme environments.
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Non-equilibrium strategies enabling ligand specificity by signaling receptors

    Andrew Goetz, Jeremy Barrios ... Purushottam Dixit
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Valuable
    • Compelling
    1. Neuroscience
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Advantageous and disadvantageous inequality aversion can be taught through learning of others’ preferences

    Shen Zhang, Oriel FeldmanHall ... A Ross Otto
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Incomplete
    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
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Compelling
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Adaptations in wing morphology rather than wingbeat kinematics enable flight in small hoverfly species

    Camille Le Roy, Nina Tervelde ... Florian T Muijres
    Small hoverflies compensate for size-related flight challenges through evolutionary changes in wing shape rather than altered wingbeat kinematics.
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Design principles of transcription factors with intrinsically disordered regions

    Wencheng Ji, Ori Hachmo ... Ariel Amir
    Intrinsically disordered regions in transcription factors enhance both target binding probability and search efficiency.
    1. Physics of Living Systems

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

    Baha Altın, Yusuf Ilker Yaman ... Aşkın Kocabaş
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Solid
    • Incomplete
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Robust assessment of asymmetric division in colon cancer cells

    Domenico Caudo, Chiara Giannattasio ... Mattia Miotto
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Useful
    • Convincing
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Theory of active self-organization of dense nematic structures in the actin cytoskeleton

    Waleed Mirza, Marco De Corato ... Marino Arroyo
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Valuable
    • Solid
    • Incomplete
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Magnetotactic bacteria optimally navigate natural pore networks

    Alexander P Petroff, Julia Hernandez ... Nina Radchenko-Hannafin
    Diverse magnetotactic bacteria are adapted to the local geomagnetic field and grain size to maximize their swimming speed through the pore space.
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Highlights

    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Flagella: A new kind of beat

    Kirsty Y Wan
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Cancer: Cells under pressure

    Dhiraj Indana, Ovijit Chaudhuri
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Modelling biomolecular condensates

    Furqan Dar, Rohit Pappu

Senior editors

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