Upcoming Events
Monday Department Seminars: Systems Seminar w/ Qiong Yang (University of Michigan) “Energy and Mechanics in Shaping Embryonic Clocks and Patterns”
Abstract: Embryonic development requires precise timing and spatial organization, despite molecular noise and physical constraints. In this talk, I will explore how energy dissipation, spatial coupling, and mechanical cues shape the developmental accuracy, utilizing "bottom-up" synthetic and ex vivo models. I will first discuss energy-precision trade-offs in mitotic oscillators revealed by systematic ATP tuning in droplet-based artificial cells and how mitotic waves facilitate information transfer across a large space. Shifting to the role of mechanics, I will present findings on how substrate rigidity acts as a mechanoswitch for the zebrafish segmentation clock and how zebrafish blastomere aggregates, or pescoids, demonstrate "active wetting" physics, where contractility and mesendoderm induction drive spontaneous fluid-to-solid transitions, coupling mechanics to fate patterning. Together, these findings highlight energy and mechanics as fundamental regulators of developmental clocks essential for robust embryo development.
Monday Department Seminars: Systems Seminar w/ Michael Levin (Tufts University)
Talk Title: "Endogenous Bioelectrical Signaling as a Coordinator of Multiscale Morphogenesis: left-right asymmetry, regeneration, cancer, and beyond"
Monday Department Seminar: Systems Seminar w/ Cameron Myhrvold (Princeton University) "CRISPR-based technologies for studying RNA"
Abstract: CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed our ability to study DNA by manipulating genomic information in a programmable fashion. The RNA-targeting CRISPR effector protein Cas13 is poised to revolutionize the study of RNA in a similar fashion, with numerous applications in RNA knockdown, detection, editing, and imaging. To fully realize the potential of Cas13 as a platform technology to detect and manipulate RNA, we need a better understanding of how target sequence and structure govern Cas13’s ability to detect and cleave RNA. To address this key challenge, my lab at Princeton is developing a diverse set of programmable Cas13 tools and technologies for studying RNA in vitro, in cells, and in vivo. These include technologies for detecting viruses and bacterial pathogens, and for profiling the immune response to infection. We also are developing technologies for RNA imaging and perturbation in eukaryotic cells. In addition, we are investigating the molecular mechanisms by which Cas13 can target RNA so that we can further enhance its programmable RNA-targeting properties. We are applying these technologies to answer an array of biological questions that have major implications for human health. Our interests span infectious diseases and human genetic diseases, many of which are associated with RNA dysregulation or mutations in RNA-binding proteins.
Monday Department Seminars: Systems Seminar w/ Arjun Raj (University of Pennsylvania) Embroyonic Economics
Title: Embryonic Economics
Abstract:
The traditional view of embryonic development is that of a highly orchestrated symphony, where everything is under the control of a conductor. Another view, however, is that development arises from the cooperative behavior of quasi-independent agents. We demonstrate that cells in early embryonic development, as modeled by gastruloids, can behave as independent agents with their own predispositions. We show that this heterogeneity is beneficial to proper development via individual clones displaying division of labor. We further show that cells display comparative advantage, with clones sometimes adopting unfamiliar roles in the service of the greater good. Together, these results provide a basis for the concept of cellular individuality during development, guided by principles taken from economics.
Theory Lunch Stephanie Palmer "Which part of a visual system should evolution modify first?”
Which part of a visual system should evolution modify first?
Please note that Stephanie Palmer will be presenting virtually via Zoom.
Stephanie Palmer: Dept of Organismal Biology & Anatomy | University of Chicago
Theory Lunch Francis Corson "How cells agree on making an embryo” (Copy)
How cells agree on making an embryo
Please note that Francis Corson will be presenting virtually via Zoom.
Francis Corson: Laboratory of Physics | Ecole Normale Supérieure, FRANCE
Abstract
Embryos are remarkably adept at developing towards a functional form in spite of perturbations. Take an early avian embryo and cut it in half, and you will get two fully-formed embryos. Drawing from examples like this one, which we have found to involve mechanical feedback, I will discuss some of the ways that cell-cell interactions can support self-organization, and ask whether we should think of the form of an embryo as a consensus among its parts.