CAREER: Growth and form in biological systems: a micromechanical approach

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

0093658 Powers The proposed research and educational program under a CAREER award consists of using the techniques and ideas of fundamental engineering science to study problems of biological growth, shape, and movement. The research will focus on the mechanics of biological filaments, ranging in scale from DNA to multicellular fibers. In particular, the investigator will study the formation and growth of supercoiling colonies of bacteria, the motility of cells, and the mechanics of DNA transcription. These problems require the development of mechanical theories in new directions, such as coupling of growth with elasticity and chirality for understanding the writhing instability of bacterial fibers. The work will be largely theoretical at first, but an essential component is the development of a micromanipulation laboratory to characterize the material properties of the growing fibers and to test the theory. The research will be integrated with curriculum development at Brown University in the newly established biomedical engineering program, and also in efforts to meet the emerging need for training biology students in methods of quantitative reasoning. Some of the proposed experiments, such as twirling flexible macroscopic helices in glycerol to model bacterial flagella, lie within the grasp of talented undergraduates and thus blend naturally into the educational program of bringing the methods of engineering to biology. Three new courses are planned. The first is an undergraduate course which focuses on the mechanics of cells, muscle, and other tissue. The second course, also at the undergraduate level, develops the continuum mechanics of fluids and solids within the context of biomedical engineering. Finally, the third course is a graduate course which introduces students in the physical sciences and engineering to aspects of molecular and cell biology with a focus on the mechanics of molecular motors, single biopolymers such as DNA, and cell membranes. ***