Scientists have long been concerned with trying to understand how cells move, for example in pursuit of new ways to control the spread of cancer. The field of biology continues to illuminate the infinitely complex processes by which collections of cells communicate, adapt, and organize along biochemical pathways.
Turning to the laws of physics, researchers at the Yale Systems Biology Institute have taken a fresh look at how cells move, revealing similarities between the behavior of cell tissue and the simplest water droplets.
“We take a different perspective on how cell motion is determined by the properties of the tissues they’re in rather than how they act individually,” said Michael Murrell, associate professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physics and senior author of a series of papers describing the work.
This article is excerpted from the Yale West Campus News article of August 17, 2022 by Jon Atherton. Please see below for the full article and links to information about Yale’s Systems Biology Institute and the Physical Review Letters, Physical Review Fluids and Physical Review X articles.