Welcome to our group webpage! We are a joint research group, established in 2021, between the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), based at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD).
Our research focuses on the mechanics of morphogenesis. We are theorists: We solve fundamental biological problems in close collaborations with experimental research groups, as well as physical and mathematical problems motivated by these biological questions.
During develop, cells and tissues deform into the functional shapes of organs and organisms. This morphogenesis involves large, nonlinear deformations and results from an interplay of biochemical signalling and mechanical forces. At the tissue scale, this interplay is governed by mechanical laws that emerge from the mechanical properties of individual cells.
How do biological processes and forces at the cell scale coarse-grain to the tissue scale? How do deformations at the tissue scale and hence to shape and biological function emerge?
In close collaboration with experimental groups, we use this mechanical and physical understanding to solve biological problems. One question of interest is:
How is robust development possible in spite of large amounts of biological variability and mechanical constraints?