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SUMMARY:Cell Morphogenesis – What We Have Learned from Rubber Balloons a
 nd Soap Bubbles - Jacques Dumais\,  Harvard University - Department of Org
 anismic and Evolutionary Biology\,
DTSTART:20071213T160000Z
DTEND:20071213T170000Z
UID:TALK9004@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Alexandre Kabla
DESCRIPTION:Cells acquire a wide range of forms and sizes\, often reflecti
 ng the intricate functions they serve.  Although cells are complex\, many 
 of their characteristic geometrical features are dictated by well-known ph
 ysical laws.  The idea that simple physical models can shed light on funda
 mental cell biology problems can be traced back to D’Arcy W. Thompson’
 s masterpiece “On Growth and Form”.  I will present two examples from 
 plant cells.  The first example is cell division in tissue layers.  As Tho
 mpson pointed out\, and as we have shown experimentally\, cell division ob
 eys the same rules of energy minimization as soap films.  These rules have
  allowed us predict the geometry of dividing cells as well as the proporti
 on of different division types.  A second example is the folding of spheri
 cal pollen grains.  We have shown that a large fraction of the diversity i
 n pollen morphology can be explained by attempts to balance the bending an
 d stretching energy of the thin wall layer that covers the pollen grain.  
  
LOCATION:Oatley Meeting Room\, Department of Engineering
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