The City College of the City University of New York
160 Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
Physics Department
email:
physdept@ccny.cuny.edu
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Wednesday, May 5, 2021 from 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM
Where Join Zoom Meeting; for details please contact Sriram Ganeshan sganeshan@ccny.cuny.edu
Physics Colloquium
How Life Shapes Time
Srividya Iyer-Biswas
Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Department of Physics
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Abstract:
What are the quantitative laws governing the stochastic growth and division of individual cells? While great strides have beenmade in unravelling and modeling the details of the gene regulatory networks which dictate growth and division for differentorganisms, there is a regrettable paucity of quantitative physical laws derived from the complementary “top down”perspective. Introducing the unique combination of technologies that facilitated probing stochastic cellular dynamics withunprecedented precision, I will first summarize the “scaling laws” that govern fluctuations in growth and division of individualcells under steady-state growth conditions. Taking a minimalist perspective, I will argue for how these scaling laws reveal anelegant physical principle governing these complex biological processes: a single cellular unit of time, which scales withexternal conditions, governs stochastic dynamics of cell growth and division at a given condition. I will then focus onapplications of the technology to probe more complex growth conditions, the corresponding generalizations of the physicalprinciple, and the implications for the underlying biological systems design. Finally, I propose an integrative perspective ofmicrobial growth dynamics under balanced conditions, by introducing a multi-scale theoretical framework that takesobservables at both scales, single-cell and population, into account. Time permitting, I will make connections with stochasticintergenerational homeostasis of bacterial growth and form.
Contact Name Sriram Ganeshan
Contact Email sganeshan@ccny.cuny.edu
Last Updated: 05/03/2021 11:22