Dr. Janet Sheung, W. M. Keck Science Department, The Claremont Colleges

The cells inside our bodies are inherently non-equilibrium materials, able to dynamically change their mechanical properties in response to environmental demands. Scientists have hoped to better understand this kind of active matter for a long time, not simply for the potential advances to medical treatments but also to open the door to the design of futuristic biomimetic materials. In this talk, Dr. Janet Sheung will describe how she and her students and combine purified cell components in the lab to recreate minimal toy models of cells, and how they use a custom microscope equipped with optical tweezers to investigate the real-time restructuring and force response of these materials. Their results show that constant energy consumption allows the cell to switch between solid-like and liquid-like behavior. Lastly, she will share current projects in her lab building on this work.