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SUMMARY:Biological and bio-inspired locomotion at small scales - Prof Anto
 nio De Simone\, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati\, Italy
DTSTART:20161125T140000Z
DTEND:20161125T150000Z
UID:TALK68085@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hilde Hambro
DESCRIPTION:Locomotion at the (tens of) micron scale is at the root of man
 y fundamental processes in Biology.\nThese include the immune system respo
 nse\, the migration of metastatic tumour cells\, and sperm cells successfu
 lly swimming their way by beating a flagellum until they reach and fertili
 se an egg cell. Besides their biological interest\, motile cells provide a
  template for the bio-inspired design of micro-meter-scale\, self-sufficie
 nt machines capable of executing controlled motion.\n\n\nWe will report on
  some of our recent studies on swimming micro-motility\, discussing genera
 l principles first\, and then a concrete case study.\nGeneral principles a
 re obtained by regarding locomotion as a control problem: we will highligh
 t some conceptual principles that may inspire the design of engineered bio
 -inspired devices.\n\n\nThe case study concerns the amoeboid motion of Eug
 lena\, which is based on dramatic shape changes. These are accomplished th
 anks to a complex structure (pellicle) underlying the plasma membrane\, ma
 de of interlocking proteinaceous strips\, microtubules\, and motor protein
 s. We study the mechanisms by which the sliding of pellicle strips leads t
 o shape control and locomotion\, by means of both theory and experiments. 
 A new concept of surface with programmable shape emerges from these studie
 s.\n
LOCATION:Department of Engineering - LR4
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