How Active Matter Takes Shape
Abstract: ** Lecture will be given in English**
How does matter become life-like?A central challenge in biophysics is to understand how molecular componentsorganize themselves into dynamic structures that generate shape, force, andmotion. We address this question by studying active biomatter, with the actincytoskeleton serving as a model system for how energy-consuming molecularinteractions give rise to large-scale organization and mechanics. Usingbottom-up reconstitution, we rebuild simplified cellular systems from basiccomponents to isolate the minimal ingredients required for creating life-likebehaviour. This approach allows us to uncover how activity, membrane mechanics,and confinement cooperate to drive deformation, symmetry breaking, andspontaneous transitions between shapes. In this seminar, I will show howcomplex curved morphologies can emerge from simple active components in vitro,and how mechanically driven shape transformations reveal organizing principlesthat may be shared in living systems across scales. More broadly, this work aimsto identify the physical rules by which active matter acquires form andfunction.
