SeminarRecording AvailablePhysics of Life

On being the right size: Is the search for underlying physical principles a wild-goose chase?

Schedule
Thursday, October 29, 2020
05:30 UTC
Workshop, Multiple Speakers

Emory University

Host: Emory TMLS

Recording

Event Information

Recording

Available

Host

Emory TMLS

Duration

70 minutes

Abstract

When was the last time you ran into a giant? Chances are never. Almost 100 years ago, JBS Haldane posed an outwardly simple yet complex question – what is the most optimal size (for a biological system)? The living world around us contains a huge diversity of organisms, each with its own characteristic size. Even the size of subcellular organelles is tightly controlled. In absence of physical rulers, how do cells and organisms truly “know” how large is large enough? What are the mechanisms in place to enforce size control? Many of these questions have motivated generations of scientists to look for physical principles underlying size control in biological systems. In the next edition of Emory's Theory and Modeling of Living Systems (TMLS) workshop series, our panel of speakers will take a close look at these questions, across the entire scale - from the molecular, all the way to the ecosystem.

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