Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS)

Theoretical Physics of Living Matter (IAS-2)

Physics of Biological Matter

About

Our group investigates the behavior of complex biological systems and fluids, including blood and suspensions of soft and active particles. Such systems are generally out of equilibrium and exhibit complex structures, interactions, and dynamics. In particular, we are interested in the behavior of active systems, blood flow in health and disease (e.g. malaria), cell mechanics and adhesion, microfluidics, and rheological properties of cellular suspensions.

Research Topics

Biological cells are sophisticated soft machines, which are able to self-organize into intricate dynamic structures, process incoming information, and actively respond to various perturbations. Recent advances in micro- and nano-technologies allow for the bottom-up reconstitution of soft cell-mimicking compartments, with a goal to create synthetic cells. The key element that remains unsolved is the emergence of dynamic cellular structures from local interactions between internal cell components. We develop and use computational models of soft active systems and synthetic cells, in order to advance our understanding of their self-organization and behavior.

Blood flow in the microcirculation plays a profound role in various physiological processes and pathologies in the organism. For instance, alterations in tissue perfusion induced by diseases (e.g., cancer, malaria) and the cessation of bleeding after an injury (hemostasis) are important conditions, where computational modeling can help identify relevant physical mechanisms. We employ modeling at the cellular level to better understand the microvascular perfusion and related biological processes.

Contact

Dr. Dmitry Fedosov

IAS-2

Building 04.16 / Room R 2013

+49 2461/61-2972

E-Mail

Physics of Biological Matter — Complex and dynamic vesicle shapes sculpted by enclosed active particles.

Members

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Projects

Project “Modelling Trypanosome Motility in Blood Flow” within the Priority Programme “Physics of Parasitism” (SPP 2332), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The main objective of this project is to achieve a better understanding of the swimming behavior of trypanosome parasite in blood flow using numerical modeling.
Project on bacterial film formation within the ETN-PHYMOT Consortium “Physics of Microbial Motility”, European Commission. The main aim of the project is to arrive at a detailed understanding of the collective swarming behavior of bacteria, and to elucidate the importance of interactions between bacteria, their shape and the strength of propulsion for the formation and motility of swarming aggregates.

Publications

Five selected publications

Darras, A., Dasanna, A.K., John, T., Gompper, G., Kaestner, L., Fedosov, D.A. and Wagner, C. (2022). Erythrocyte sedimentation: collapse of a high-volume-fraction soft-particle gel. Physical Review Letters, 128, 088101.

Vutukuri, H.R., Hoore, M., Abaurrea-Velasco, C., van Buren, L., Dutto, A., Auth, T., Fedosov, D.A., Gompper, G. and Vermant, J. (2020). Active particles induce large shape deformations in giant lipid vesicles. Nature, 586, 52-56.

Hillringhaus, S., Dasanna, A.K., Gompper, G. and Fedosov, D.A. (2020). Stochastic bond dynamics facilitates alignment of malaria parasite at erythrocyte membrane upon invasion. eLife, 9, e56500.

Reichel, F., Mauer, J., Nawaz, A.A., Gompper, G., Guck, J. and Fedosov, D.A. (2019). Highthroughput microfluidic characterization of erythrocyte shapes and mechanical variability. Biophysical Journal, 117, 14-24.

Turlier, H., Fedosov, D. A., Audoly, B., Auth, T., Gov, N. S., Sykes, C., Joanny, J.F., Gompper, G. and Betz, T. (2016). Equilibrium physics breakdown reveals the active nature of red blood cell flickering. Nature physics, 12, 513-519.

Last Modified: 07.02.2025

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