Mechanical forces Archives

Cell mechanics – from bench to bedside

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Chemical, electrical, and mechanical stimuli trigger activity in a variety of biochemical pathways.

All cells generate and respond to mechanical forces. The role of mechanical forces in cell biology has been understudied, but the forces are essential components of our physiology in health and disease. For example, they are involved in pathologies such as cardiac arrhythmias, muscular dystrophy and metastatic cancer. Dr Frederick Sachs from the University at Buffalo, New York, focuses on […]

Honeycomb wings created by nature’s mechanics

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Forces shape the world we live in, including the bodies we grow in to. Tiny motors in our cells push and pull to create different shapes, surrounding cells respond and react to create diverse patterns of tissue resulting in a world full of unique plants and animals. Drs Sugimura and Ikawa, from Kyoto University, studied the Drosophila fly wing to […]