Natural populations can suffer catastrophic collapse in response to small changes in environmental conditions, and recovery after such a collapse can be exceedingly difficult. We have used simple laboratory microbial ecosystems to study early warning signals of impending extinction. Yeast cooperatively...

??Much like the bones in our bodies, the cytoskeleton of filamentous proteins largely determines the mechanical response and stability of cells. We describe advances in theoretical modeling and experiments on such fiber networks in living cells and on reconstituted in vitro acto-­’?myosin networks....

Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth. It surrounds you! -­’?-­’?-­’? trees, vegetation, crops, and biota in streams, ponds, and oceans. ‘? How is this biopolymer assembled by living organisms? ‘? How do the assembly processes affect its properties? The most...

Molecular motors in living cells are involved in muscle contraction, cellular maintenance, developmental shape changes, and invasion of cellular pathogens. A major thrust is underway to understand how motors interact and are regulated within the cellular milieu.  We have taken a unique approach to this...

How acentrosomal microtubules become organized into particular patterns in the absence of a centralized microtubule organizing complex remains a mystery. The plant cortical microtubule cytoskeleton is an ideal model system to address this question. Plants naturally lack centrosomes and their interphase...

Living systems maintain their physiological state under environmental changes and isolated genetic mutations through feedback within highly connected networks of genes, proteins, and other bio-molecules. Unfortunately, this robustness also makes it difficult...