The laboratory is located in the Pontedera site of The BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.  

MENSA stands for ModEling-and-Numerical-Simulation-Assisted observation laboratory. It is an observatory dedicated to the sudy of complexity in living systems, focussing in particular on biological and bio-inspred motility.

We use mathematical models and numerical simulation tools to enhance observations of micro-organisms obtained with various microscopy techniques, leading to a better understanding of the bio-physical mechanisms governing their response.

Among the organisms we have studied: Euglena gracilis, Stylonichia lemnae, Lacrymaria olor, Steinernema carpocapsae.

Collective feeding flows in S. lemnae

Stylonichia lemnae are unicellular ciliates. Their collective feeding flows generate a plume in a blob of yeast, initially of circular shape, thanks to an off-center first encounter. 

Movie showing superposition of experiments (cells and yeast particles in white) and numerical simulations using CFD  (the green tracers) illustrating particle advection by stochastic feeding flows generated by self-assembled groups of stylonichia lemnae, feeding on a blob of yeast.