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. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    An Hfq-dependent post-transcriptional mechanism fine tunes RecB expression in Escherichia coli

    Irina Kalita, Ira Alexandra Iosub ... Meriem El Karoui
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Modularity of the segmentation clock and morphogenesis

    James E Hammond, Ruth E Baker, Berta Verd
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Valuable
    • Convincing
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Q-learning with temporal memory to navigate turbulence

    Marco Rando, Martin James ... Agnese Seminara
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Compelling
    1. Ecology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Evidence of social learning across symbolic cultural barriers in sperm whales

    Antonio Leitao, Maxime Lucas ... Giovanni Petri
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Solid
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Emergence of alternative stable states in microbial communities undergoing horizontal gene transfer

    Juken Hong, Wenzhi Xue, Teng Wang
    Mathematical models of horizontal gene transfer reveal the determinants underlying multistability of microbial communities, offering key insights for the predictive control and engineering of complex microbiota.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    A differentiable Gillespie algorithm for simulating chemical kinetics, parameter estimation, and designing synthetic biological circuits

    Krishna Rijal, Pankaj Mehta
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    A thermodynamic framework for nonequilibrium self-assembly and force morphology tradeoffs in branched actin networks

    Elisabeth Rennert, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Valuable
    • Incomplete
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Catalytic growth in a shared enzyme pool ensures robust control of centrosome size

    Deb Sankar Banerjee, Shiladitya Banerjee
    A catalytic growth model in a shared enzyme pool explains robust centrosome size equality and size scaling, offering a unifying model for centrosome maturation dynamics across diverse organisms.
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Stability vs flexibility: reshaping archaeal membranes in silico

    Miguel Amaral, Felix Frey ... Anđela Šarić
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    De novo identification of universal cell mechanics gene signatures

    Marta Urbanska, Yan Ge ... Jochen Guck
    A computational systems biology approach identifies a gene network module associated with single-cell mechanical phenotype changes across diverse mouse and human systems, with implications for on-demand engineering of cell stiffness.
Load more

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
    The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain
  2. Aleksandra Walczak
    Ecole Normale Superieure, France
  3. See more editors