2024 Academia Sinica Open House

Living cells and organisms are full of dynamic and self-organizing mechanical phenomena. Examples include the movements of living cells, such as migration and deformation, as well as the cooperative movements of cell collectives, and the morphological changes of intracellular organelles and macromolecular assemblies driven by molecular motors. Moreover, the entire life cycle of many animals begins from a single cell, which undergoes numerous dynamic processes like deformation, division, migration, and fusion to spontaneously create the complex shape of each animal. Even more remarkably, these processes are accomplished without external assistance, all while continuously maintaining the function of a living organism. Such extraordinary mechanical phenomena of living cells and in organisms are attracting the interest of physics researchers, yet much remains unexplored regarding how these remarkable dynamic and self-organizing processes are achieved. We are investigating the mechanisms and roles of these processes through theoretical modeling and computer simulations.