Fluctuations and dynamic arrest in cells

Wed
03/28/2012
4:15pm
RLM 4.102
Physics Department Matsen Lecture - Prof. David Weitz
Harvard University
Fluctuations and dynamic arrest in cells
 

Motion of cells, and motion within cells, often entails fluctuations that have a strongly Brownian character.  However, these motions are driven by the molecular motors within the cells, rather than by thermal motion.  This talk will describe the use of simple optical methods to measure this motion, and the analysis that elucidates the nature of the fluctuations.  I will also describe the fluctuating motion of collections of cells themselves, and will show how it is very strongly influenced by the stiffness of the substrate on which the cells are grown.