The past 20 years have witnessed ever-growing evidence that the mechanical properties of
biological tissues, from nanoscale to macroscale dimensions, are fundamental for cellular …

Surface curvature both emerges from, and influences the behavior of, living objects at length
scales ranging from cell membranes to single cells to tissues and organs. The relevance of …

In recent years considerable progress has been made in the development of faithful
procedures for the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). An important step …

Tissue homeostasis requires maintenance of functional integrity under stress. A central
source of stress is mechanical force that acts on cells, their nuclei, and chromatin, but how …

Multicellular spheroids and organoids are promising in vitro 3D models in personalized
medicine and drug screening. They replicate the structural and functional characteristics of …

Hydrogel-based devices are widely used as flexible electronics, biosensors, soft robots, and
intelligent human-machine interfaces. In these applications, high stretchability, low …

Tissue and organ development during embryogenesis relies on the collective and
coordinated action of many cells. Recent studies have revealed that tissue material …

Activity and autonomous motion are fundamental in living and engineering systems. This
has stimulated the new field of'active matter'in recent years, which focuses on the physical …

Intestinal organoids capture essential features of the intestinal epithelium such as crypt
folding, cellular compartmentalization and collective movements. Each of these processes …

Shape-memory polymeric materials lack long-range molecular order that enables more
controlled and efficient actuation mechanisms. Here, we develop a hierarchical structured …