The Architecture of Life
Donald E Ingber
Harvard University
http://www.childrenshospital.org/research/ingber/
Summary:
Our laboratory seeks to understand how living cells and tissues are
constructed so that they exhibit their incredible organic properties,
including their ability to change shape, move, grow, and self-heal.
Cells are outstanding examples of responsive architecture in that they
constantly sense physical and chemical environmental cues, and respond
by remodeling themselves and surrounding structures so as to best ensure
their own growth and survival. We have approached this problem by combining
approaches from molecular cell biology, physics, engineering and computer
science, as well as art and architecture. Our studies have revealed
that the cell’s ability to sense multiple environmental signals
and produce a coordinated response is intimately linked to how they
are structured at the nanometer scale. We have discovered that cells
use a tension-dependent building system, known as “tensegrity”
architecture, to mechanically stabilize their internal molecular framework,
or “cytoskeleton”, and thereby control cell shape stability.
This intracellular scaffold functions simultaneously as structure and
catalyst because many of the enzymes and substrates that mediate cellular
metabolism are physical components of this load-bearing network. Because
of this architectural organization, forces applied at the macroscale
can produce changes in the shape of molecules that comprise these discrete
load-bearing networks at the nanometer scale, and thereby alter molecular
biochemistry inside the cell. This form of tension-dependent architecture
also provides a mechanism to integrate structure and function within
complex hierarchical structures, and to provide material strength, flexibility
and responsiveness at all size scales. Perhaps it is for this reason
that tensegrity appears to govern how nature builds from the smallest
organic compounds to single cells to whole living organisms, as well
as how life first originated on this planet. Understanding this fundamental
design principle may lead to development of entire new biologically-inspired
materials for medical, construction, military and aerospace applications.
Biography
Don Ingber’s work has revealed that a form of geodesic architecture
known as ‘tensegrity’ guides the design of organic structures
from the simplest carbon compounds to the most complex living organisms.
His findings have entirely changed our view of how cells structure themselves
at the nanometer scale; how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces;
how cells self-organize into tissues and organs; how cancer forms; and
how life might have first originated on this planet. His contributions
have led to honors in developmental biology, mechanical engineering,
and medical science, as well as recognition by NASA and American Cancer
Society.
