91福利

Lipid membranes not only play a vital role in many cellular processes, ranging from cell shape to endocytosis, but also display many interesting physical phenomena due to the coupling of fluid dynamics and elasticity in complex geometries. As such the area has attracted much recent interest from biologists, statistical physicists and fluid dynamicists. The physics of membranes also provides a nice bridge between physics and biology due to the development of in vitro systems in which physical predictions can be tested avoiding all the complexities of a living cell. Recently there has been more focus on the interplay between proteins and the membrane and the role that so called 鈥渁ctive鈥� forces can play in shaping the membrane. In particular general covariant formulations for so-called 鈥淎ctive Surfaces鈥� have recently been developed. These provide a framework for addressing problems, both in active lipid membranes and thin growing tissues. This meeting will address a number of contemporary questions in this field by bringing together scientists from a range of different backgrounds (Chemistry, Maths, Physics and Life Sciences). A particular focus will be to develop the relationship between the more abstract mathematical models and real biological systems.