Biomimicry

The word "biomimicry" comes from ancient Greek: bios (bios), life, and mimesis, imitation.

This term refers to the study of extra- and intracellular biological phenomena using in vitro experimental techniques aimed at reproducing, i.e., "imitating," qualitatively and quantitatively the aspects that characterize these phenomena.

The biomimetic method approaches biological complexity "by subtraction": by assembling new minimal systems (with a small number of parameters) under highly controlled conditions using abottom-up approach; by identifying essential quantities; and by controlling the system's parameters.

This course does not claim to present biomimicry in an exhaustive and canonical manner, but rather to give students a broad perspective on this rapidly developing field of research. This educational objective will be pursued through the critical reading of research articles and the presentation of some of the most advanced biomimetic techniques by the researchers who use them.

• Provide students with a broad overview of the biomimetic techniques and research topics most commonly used in the study of extracellular and intracellular processes (see syllabus).
• Studies of the seminal articles on modern biomimetic approaches.
• Develop skills in reading and analyzing scientific articles in the field of biophysics, particularly biomimetics. Encourage best practices in the study of scientific literature.

• Biological Physics

Recommended prerequisites:

• Fluid mechanics/hydrodynamics
• Statistical Physics
• Surfaces, Interfaces, Colloids

Microscopy and Spectroscopy

This course focuses on the study of scientific literature and the presentation, in the form of seminars, of certain aspects of biomimetic research. For this reason, its program may vary from year to year. Some of the topics already covered in the past are:

• Dynamics, assembly, and self-organization of microtubules and motors in vitro.
• Artificial Listeria : actin-based motility dynamics.
• Formation of membrane nanotube networks through the action of motor proteins on an underlying microtubule network.
• Membrane nanotubes and protein-membrane interaction.
• Cytoskeletal mechanics/cell motility: cilia and flagella.
• Developmental biology and cellular mechanics.
• Biomimetic tissue drainage.