How does a ‘simple’ cell take ‘complex’ decisions? — A Physics perspective
Seminar Hall 31, 2nd Floor, Main Building
Abstract:
Biological cells are ‘living machines’ capable of making exceedingly complex decisions — ranging from whether to chemotax, heal a wound, divide, differentiate, metastasize (in the case of carcinogenic cells), metamorphose, evolve, and many more. In this talk, I will show how mathematical modeling unravels that the biological phenomena of ‘decision-making’ can be at different levels, say, manifestation of biomolecular interactions resulting into single-cell chemotaxis or intra- and intercellular interactions leading into tissue-level spatiotemporal patterning or collective cell migration. We will get a flavor of how generic and phenomenological models, based on Statistical Physics and Nonlinear dynamics, are capable of providing insights into the mechanistic understanding of a biological phenomenon.