In 2019, Caltech researchers demonstrated a new method to use light to control active matter. Back then, the team focused on active matter in the form of millimeter-sized protein filaments. Now, powered by insights from computational theory, the team, has developed the first “programming language” for active matter, enabling researchers to conduct precise operations in tiny volumes of fluid on the cellular level. The method has major applications in nanotechnology and for studying cell interactions.
The work, a collaboration between the labs of Matt Thomson, professor of computational biology, affiliated TCCI for Neuroscience faculty and HMRI Investigator, and Rob Phillips, the Fred and Nancy Morris Professor of Biophysics, Biology, and Physics is described in a paper appearing in the journal Nature Materials on January 29.