Cilia and flagella are fundamental units of motion in cellular biology. These beating, hair-like
organelles share a common basic structure but maintain widely varying functions in systems …

Cilia are microscopic hair-like external cell organelles that are ubiquitously present in
nature, also within the human body. They fulfill crucial biological functions: motile cilia …

Metachronal waves commonly exist in natural cilia carpets. These emergent phenomena,
which originate from phase differences between neighbouring self-beating cilia, are …

The dynamics and deformations of immersed flexible fibers are at the heart of important
industrial and biological processes, induce peculiar mechanical and transport properties in …

This work reviews the present position of and surveys future perspectives in the physics of
chaotic advection: the field that emerged three decades ago at the intersection of fluid …

Motile cilia are slender, hair-like cellular appendages that spontaneously oscillate under the
action of internal molecular motors and are typically found in dense arrays. These active …

On surfaces with many motile cilia, beats of the individual cilia coordinate to form
metachronal waves. We present a theoretical framework that connects the dynamics of an …

We show that mucociliary membranes of animal epithelia can create fluid-mechanical
microenvironments for the active recruitment of the specific microbiome of the host. In …

Ciliated tissues, such as in the mammalian lungs, brains, and reproductive tracts, are
specialized to pump fluid. They generate flows by the collective activity of hundreds of …

Mucus clearance constitutes the primary defence of the respiratory system against viruses,
bacteria and environmental insults. This transport across the entire airway emerges from the …