From active surfaces to evo-devo-mechanobiology

Guillaume Salbreux

Morphogenesis of biological systems relies on mechanical forces at the mesoscopic, supracellular level to establish shape. Here I will discuss the physical theory of nematic active surfaces, which describes tensions and bending moments arising in active materials such as biological epithelia. I will then discuss how leveraging this theory can allow us to understand the integration of mechanical modules during development, and how these mechanical modules can vary across species, using the examples of comparison of development of cnidarians. I will introduce the concept of « mechanical redundancy », showing that several mechanical modules can have similar effect on shape determination.Guillaume Salbreux