How the shape of embryos and organs emerges during development is a fundamental
question that has fascinated scientists for centuries. Tissue dynamics arise from a small set …

Precisely controlled cell deformations are key to cell migration, division and tissue
morphogenesis, and have been implicated in cell differentiation during development, as well …

Actomyosin-mediated contractility is a highly conserved mechanism for generating
mechanical stress in animal cells and underlies muscle contraction, cell migration, cell …

There is increasing evidence that both mechanical and biochemical signals play important
roles in development and disease. The development of complex organisms, in particular …

Life is characterized by a myriad of complex dynamic processes allowing organisms to grow,
reproduce, and evolve. Physical approaches for describing systems out of thermodynamic …

Patterns are ubiquitous in living systems and underlie the dynamic organization of cells,
tissues, and embryos. Mathematical frameworks have been devised to account for the self …

The minimal structural unit of a solid tumor is a single cell or a cellular compartment such as
the nucleus. A closer look inside the cells reveals that there are functional compartments or …

We review the general hydrodynamic theory of active soft materials that is motivated in
particular by biological matter. We present basic concepts of irreversible thermodynamics of …

Cell movement has essential functions in development, immunity, and cancer. Various cell
migration patterns have been reported, but no general rule has emerged so far. Here, we …

The cortex is a thin, crosslinked actin network lying immediately beneath the plasma
membrane of animal cells. Myosin motors exert contractile forces in the meshwork. Because …