Syracuse University, Department of Physics and BioInspired Institute, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Mar 31;130(13):130002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.130002.
The field of soft matter physics has expanded rapidly over the past several decades, as physicists realize that a broad set of materials and systems are amenable to a physical understanding based on the interplay of entropy, elasticity, and geometry. The fields of biological physics and the physics of living systems have similarly emerged as bona fide independent areas of physics in part because tools from molecular and cell biology and optical physics allow scientists to make new quantitative measurements to test physical principles in living systems. This Essay will highlight two exciting future challenges I see at the intersection of these two fields: characterizing emergent behavior and harnessing actuation in highly deformable active objects. I will attempt to show how this topic is a natural extension of older and more recent discoveries and why I think it is likely to unfurl into a wide range of projects that can transform both fields. Progress in this area will enable new platforms for creating adaptive smart materials that can execute large-scale changes in shape in response to stimuli and improve our understanding of biological function, potentially allowing us to identify new targets for fighting disease. Part of a series of Essays which concisely present author visions for the future of their field.
软物质物理学领域在过去几十年中迅速发展，物理学家意识到，基于熵、弹性和几何的相互作用，可以理解广泛的材料和系统。生物物理学和生命系统物理学领域也同样成为物理学的独立领域，部分原因是分子和细胞生物学以及光学物理学的工具使科学家能够进行新的定量测量，以检验生命系统中的物理原理。本文将重点介绍我在这两个领域的交叉点上看到的两个令人兴奋的未来挑战：描述涌现行为和利用高度可变形的活性物体中的致动。我将尝试说明这个主题如何是旧的和更新的发现的自然延伸，以及为什么我认为它很可能会展开为一系列广泛的项目，可以改变这两个领域。该领域的进展将为创建自适应智能材料提供新的平台，这些材料可以响应刺激进行大规模的形状变化，并提高我们对生物功能的理解，可能使我们能够确定治疗疾病的新靶点。这一系列短文的一部分，简洁地呈现了作者对其领域未来的愿景。
