Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

Cell organization out of equilibrium

Shashi Thutupalli

NCBS and ICTS, Bengaluru

Cell theory, the concept of the cell as the basic unit of life, is a cornerstone of biology. But despite close to two centuries of probing them, cells and their functioning remain enigmatic. To a physicist, a cell is a bag of macromolecules, maintained out of equilibrium by appropriate chemical means, from which complex behaviors emerge. But how did the configuration of such a bag come about in the first place? After providing a brief overview of efforts so far to address this issue, I will present our experimental proposal in this direction. Continuing from there, I will talk about our efforts in understanding the organization of a cell that is driven far from its homeostatic equilibrium and discuss the mechanisms a cell employs to survive extreme perturbations.