The biophysical relationships between sensors and actuators have been fundamental to the development of complex life forms. Swimming organisms generate abundant flows that persist in aquatic environments, and responding promptly to external stimuli is key to survival. Here we present the discovery of 'hydrodynamic trigger waves' in cellular communities of the protist Spirostomum ambiguum that propagate-in a manner similar to a chain reaction-hundreds of times faster than their swimming speed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKnowledge of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the gut microbiome is essential to understanding the state of human health, as over a hundred diseases have been correlated with changes in microbial populations. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the microbiome and the limitations of in vivo and in vitro experiments, studying spatial and temporal dynamics of gut bacteria in a biological setting is extremely challenging. Thus, in silico experiments present an excellent alternative for studying such systems.
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