Physics Colloquia: Amaresh Sahu - Mechanical response of lipid membranes to passive and active forces

Abstract: Biological lipid membranes make up the boundary of the cell, as well as many of the cell's internal

organelles. Such membranes are not simply static, semipermeable barriers protecting their internal contents.

Rather, biological membranes play a dynamic role in many cellular processes. Moreover, lipid membranes

are unique materials: lipids flow in-plane as a two-dimensional viscous fluid, while the membrane bends

out-of-plane as an elastic shell. While there is much experimental evidence for the dynamic behavior of

biological membranes, the physical mechanisms governing membrane motion remain poorly understood.

Host: Vernita Gordon