COOKIES: By using this website you agree that we can place Google Analytics Cookies on your device for performance monitoring. |
University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > CMS Special Lectures > Biological and bio-inspired locomotion at small scales.
Biological and bio-inspired locomotion at small scales.Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal
If you have a question about this talk, please contact June Rix. Refreshments will be available after the Seminar in Central Core at 16.00 hrs Locomotion at the micron scale is at the root of many fundamental processes in Biology. These include the immune system response, the migration of metastatic tumour cells, and sperm cells successfully swimming their way by beating a flagellum until they reach and fertilise an egg cell. Besides their biological interest, motile cells provide a template for the bio-inspired design of micro-meter-scale, self-sufficient machines capable of executing controlled motion. We will report on some of our recent studies on swimming micro-motility by shape control, discussing general principles first, and then a concrete case study. General principles are obtained by regarding locomotion as a control problem: we will highlight some conceptual principles that may inspire the design of engineered bio-inspired devices. The case study concerns the protist Euglena gracilis, which is capable of moving either by beating a flagellum, or by executing dramatic shape changes. These are accomplished thanks to a complex structure (pellicle) underlying the plasma membrane, made of interlocking proteinaceous strips, microtubules, and molecular motors. We study the mechanisms by which the sliding of pellicle strips leads to shape control and locomotion, by means of both theory and experiments. A new concept of surface with programmable shape emerges from these studies. This talk is part of the CMS Special Lectures series. This talk is included in these lists:
Note that ex-directory lists are not shown. |
Other listsPharmacology Tea Club seminars Romance Syntax Seminar The obesity epidemic: Discussing the global health crisisOther talksMalaria’s Time Keeping Liberalizing Contracts: Nineteenth Century promises through literature, law and history A tale of sleepless flies and ninna nanna. How Drosophila changes what we know about sleep. Metamaterials and the Science of Invisibility TBC Carers and Careers: The Impact of Caring on Academic Careers |