Collaborative Research: MSPA-ENG: Interplay of Biosensing and Locomotion in Confined Microfluidic Environments

该提案利用跨学科的方法来研究秀丽隐杆线虫的运动及其对环境变化的感觉反应。秀丽隐杆线虫具有遗传易学、基因组测序、解剖结构简单、身体透明等特点，是生物学中研究最多的模式动物之一。它也是研究移动和感知的一个极好的系统。本项目将秀丽隐杆线虫作为一个简单的生物模型系统，获取关键的物理信息，以理解感知、运动和环境之间的相互作用，并将这些信息纳入波动运动的理论和计算模型。这是华盛顿大学的一位机械工程师和纽约大学的一位数学家之间的合作研究项目。这项研究预计将对智能传感和驱动技术产生影响，其结果将作为智能设备开发的基石，从而实现自适应系统和结构的稳健设计。

The proposal utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to study the locomotion of C. elegans and their sensory response to environmental variations. C. elegans is one of the mostly studied model animals in biology due to its genetic tractability, sequenced genome, simple anatomy and body transparency. It is also a superb system to study mobility and sensing. This project will use C. elegans as a simple model system of living organisms to obtain critical physical information for understanding the interplay between sensing, locomotion and environment, incorporate this information into theoretical and computational models of undulatory locomotion. This is a collaborative research project between a mechanical engineer at Washington University and a mathematical at the New York University.This research is expected to impact on smart sensing and actuation technology, and the results will serve as building blocks for development of smart devices that can lead to robust design of adaptive systems and structures.