RESEARCH
physics of living soft matter
-Unlike conventional materials, living matter such as cells and tissues are “active” such that their organization is highly dynamic and their functions are adaptive to ever-changing environments. These active materials are built from nanoscale molecular components which are themselves active machines. The beauty of living systems often lies at this interface of biochemical regulation at the molecular level and functional organization at the meso- and micron scale.
-We explore organizing principles of biological assembly at multiple scales and associated functions emerging through the assembly. We are particularly interested in the problems at the intersection of mechanics and biology (e.g. how mechanical force regulates biological processes). We also aim to engineer biological systems in a way that are controllable and potentially autonomously reconfigurable.
-In doing so, we combine knowledge and techniques from various disciplines including mechanics, bioengineering, molecular/cell biology and biochemistry.
mechanobio engineering
-Living systems process genetic information stored in one-dimensional sequences of DNA to form three-dimensional biomolecules. With accumulating knowledge on the way biomolecules self-organize into functional structures, we begin to see a possibility of manipulating living systems and encoding theirs organization and function from the molecule level. We explore ways to design and manufacture living systems with desired properties and functionalities.
-We also develop high-resolution measurement/perturbation techniques for biophysical/biomedical applications. We build novel nano-bio interface platforms by taking advantage of a suite of advanced nano-, optical- and molecular technologies.