CAREER: Growth and form in biological systems: a micromechanical approach

0093658PowersCAREER奖下的研究和教育计划包括使用基础工程科学的技术和思想来研究生物生长，形状和运动的问题。研究将集中在生物细丝的力学上，从DNA到多细胞纤维。 特别是，研究人员将研究细菌超螺旋菌落的形成和生长，细胞的运动性和DNA转录的机制。 这些问题需要在新的方向上发展力学理论，例如将生长与弹性和手性耦合，以了解细菌纤维的扭曲不稳定性。 这项工作首先将主要是理论上的，但一个重要的组成部分是发展一个显微操作实验室，以表征生长纤维的材料特性，并测试理论。 这项研究将与布朗大学新成立的生物医学工程项目的课程开发相结合，并努力满足培养生物学学生定量推理方法的新需求。 一些拟议中的实验，如在甘油中旋转柔性宏观螺旋来模拟细菌鞭毛，都在有才华的大学生的掌握范围内，因此自然融入了将工程方法引入生物学的教育计划。 计划开设三门新课程。 第一个是本科课程，重点是细胞，肌肉和其他组织的力学。 第二门课程，也是在本科阶段，在生物医学工程的背景下发展流体和固体的连续介质力学。最后，第三门课程是研究生课程，向物理科学和工程专业的学生介绍分子和细胞生物学的各个方面，重点是分子发动机，单生物聚合物（如DNA）和细胞膜的力学。

0093658PowersThe proposed research and educational program under a CAREER award consists of using thetechniques and ideas of fundamental engineering science to study problems of biological growth, shape, and movement.The research will focus on the mechanics of biological filaments, ranging in scale from DNA to multicellular fibers. In particular, the investigator will study the formation and growth of supercoiling colonies of bacteria, the motility of cells, and the mechanics of DNA transcription. These problems require the development of mechanical theories in new directions, such as coupling of growth with elasticity and chirality for understanding the writhing instability of bacterial fibers. The work will be largely theoretical at first, but an essential component is the development of a micromanipulation laboratory to characterize the material properties of the growing fibers and to test the theory. The research will be integrated with curriculum development at Brown University in the newly established biomedical engineering program, and also in efforts to meet the emerging need for training biology students in methods of quantitative reasoning. Some of the proposed experiments, such as twirling flexible macroscopic helices in glycerol to model bacterial flagella, lie within the grasp of talented undergraduates and thus blend naturally into the educational program of bringing the methods of engineering to biology. Three new courses are planned. The first is an undergraduate course which focuses on the mechanics of cells, muscle, and other tissue. The second course, also at the undergraduate level, develops the continuum mechanics of fluids and solids within the context of biomedical engineering. Finally, the third course is a graduate course which introduces students in the physical sciences and engineering to aspects of molecular and cell biology with a focus on the mechanics of molecular motors, singlebiopolymers such as DNA, and cell membranes.***