How are cell and tissue shapes dictated by the generation of forces inside the cell at the molecular level? How are the original properties of active matter, driven out of equilibrium by ATP hydrolysis, related to biological processes? The “physics of the cytoskeleton” group in the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden address such questions with the help of physical analysis, numerical simulations and through close collaborations with biologists.

Cell image: courtesy J.Y. Tinevez, E. Paluch