Internal Seminar: Dean's Research Unit and Mathematical Soft Matter Unit

Join us for this year's first Internal Seminars Series on January 29, from 17:00 to 18:00 in C700 (Lab3). This seminar features the Dean's Research Unit and Mathematical Soft Matter Unit (Eliot Fried).

Dean's Research Unit

Speaker : Zach Hensel

Title : Gene oscillations in E. coli

Abstract : Oscillatory gene expression for the self-repressing protein Cro was recently observed by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy in E. coli cells. Oscillations were synchronized to the cell cycle, and phase shifts were observed when the gene was integrated at different positions on the chromosome. When negative feedback was removed, oscillations were weaker and autocorrelation in gene expression persisted for longer. I will discuss recent computational work examining which cell-cycle-dependent molecular processes (e.g. gene duplication, cell growth and cell division) might underlie these results. I will introduce one novel mechanism that can be tested in single-molecule experiments.

Mathematical Soft Matter Unit (Eliot Fried)

Speaker : Giulio Giusteri

Title : Shaping films

Abstract : The shapes of liquid films that can be obtained by dipping and extracting wired frames from soapy water can be fascinating and surprising. Due to the liquid nature of the film, there is an energetic preference for configurations in which the area of liquid/air interface is minimized subject to the requirement that it adheres to the bounding frame. If the bounding frame is rigid, the film adopts the shape of a surface with minimal area for the given boundary. If, however, the bounding frame is flexible, then it can change shape in response to the force generated by the surface tension of the liquid. Possibly the simplest mathematical model for the interplay between the resistance of a flexible frame to shape changes and the force exerted on the frame by the spanning film will be presented and our current results about the controllability of shape instabilities in terms of material parameters will be outlined.