Physics Colloquium: Design principles employed by cells
How it’s made: Design principles employed by cells to create their organelles
Dr. Lishibanya Mohapatra
Assistant Professor
School of Physics and Astronomy, RIT
Zoom Registration Link
Abstract:
Imagine a world occupied by machines whose size is 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Some of them transport cargo on tracks only 10 atoms across, assemble machines following molecular blueprints which then proceed to create higher-order structures that we call ‘organelles’. This is the bustling world inside a living cell - and using theory and simulations, Dr. Lishibanya Mohapatra will demonstrate the key principles required to design organelles in this (weird) world.
Speaker Bio:
I like to use theory and modeling to study interesting puzzles in the domain of Quantitative Biology. Specifically, my research has focused on finding an answer to the key question: how cells measure and control the size of their organelles? I use tools from statistical mechanics and computational techniques, and observations from recent experiments to model the growth of these structures and also work closely with my experimental collaborators to design experiments to verify the predictions. Examples of organelles that I’ve studied are actin cables in budding yeast cells, flagella in Chlamydomonas and Giardia, and more recently, the nucleoli.
Intended Audience:
All are welcome. Those with interest in the topic.
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
This is an RIT Only Event
Interpreter Requested?
No