Colloquium: Physics of Morphogenetic Matter

My lab studies how the movement and shape of living cells is controlled by the dynamic biomolecular assemblies within the cell interior. In this talk, I will describe my lab’s recent efforts to understand the design principles of the active, soft materials that control the shape and motion of adherent cells. In particular, we are interested in the design principles by which protein-based materials generate, relax, sense, and adapt to mechanical force. Here I will describe our current experimental efforts using optogenetic approaches to elucidate design principles of living matter.