Physics of Living Systems

Physics of Living Systems

eLife reviews research in which approaches from the physical sciences are used to provide insights into the properties of biological systems and processes. Learn more about what we review and sign up for the latest research.
Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Latest articles

    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Unlocking the secrets of kangaroo locomotor energetics: Postural adaptations underpin increased tendon stress in hopping kangaroos

    Lauren H. Thornton, Taylor J.M. Dick ... Christofer J. Clemente
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Intracellular mechanical fingerprint reveals cell type specific mechanical tuning

    Till M. Muenker, Bart E. Vos, Timo Betz
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Potassium-mediated bacterial chemotactic response

    Chi Zhang, Rongjing Zhang, Junhua Yuan
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Mapping Spatial Patterns to Energetic Benefits in Groups of Flow-coupled Swimmers

    Sina Heydari, Haotian Hang, Eva Kanso
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Neutrophils actively swell to potentiate rapid migration

    Tamas L Nagy, Evelyn Strickland, Orion D. Weiner
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Diffusive lensing as a mechanism of intracellular transport and compartmentalization

    Achuthan Raja Venkatesh, Kathy H. Le ... Onn Brandman
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    The younger flagellum sets the beat for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

    Da Wei, Greta Quaranta ... Daniel SW Tam
    External hydrodynamic forcing on each flagellum of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveals a leader-follower relation between the two flagella in the synchronous beating.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    An Hfq-dependent post-transcriptional mechanism fine tunes RecB expression in Escherichia coli

    Irina Kalita, Ira Alexandra Iosub ... Meriem El Karoui
    1. Ecology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Evidence of social learning across symbolic cultural barriers in sperm whales

    Antonio Leitao, Maxime Lucas ... Giovanni Petri
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    A high-throughput platform for single-molecule tracking identifies drug interaction and cellular mechanisms

    David T. McSwiggen, Helen Liu ... Hilary P. Beck
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Highlights

    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Flagella: A new kind of beat

    Kirsty Y Wan
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Cancer: Cells under pressure

    Dhiraj Indana, Ovijit Chaudhuri
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Modelling biomolecular condensates

    Furqan Dar, Rohit Pappu

Senior editors

  1. Felix Campelo
    The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain
  2. Aleksandra Walczak
    Ecole Normale Superieure, France
  3. See more editors