@article{Lee:2018:1361-6463/aae510,
author = {Lee, C and Wurtz, JD},
doi = {1361-6463/aae510},
journal = {Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics},
title = {Novel physics arising from phase transitions in biology},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aae510},
volume = {52},
year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Phase transitions, such as the freezing of water and the magnetisation of a ferromagnet upon lowering the ambient temperature, are familiar physical phenomena. Interestingly, such a collective change of behaviour at a phase transition is also of importance to living systems. From cytoplasmic organisation inside a cell to the collective migration of cell tissue during organismal development and wound healing, phase transitions have emerged as key mechanisms underlying many crucial biological processes. However, a living system is fundamentally different from a thermal system, with driven chemical reactions (e.g. metabolism) and motility being two hallmarks of its non-equilibrium nature. In this review, we will discuss how driven chemical reactions can arrest universal coarsening kinetics expected from thermal phase separation, and how motility leads to the emergence of a novel universality class when the rotational symmetry is spontaneously broken in an incompressible fluid.
AU  - Lee,C
AU  - Wurtz,JD
DO  - 1361-6463/aae510
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 0022-3727
TI  - Novel physics arising from phase transitions in biology
T2  - Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aae510
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/65156
VL  - 52
ER  - 

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