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Biophysical Sciences Institute
Leaf for biology experiment

Measurement Across Scales

Our multidisciplinary community uses quantitative, experimental and theoretical approaches from the physical sciences to create an integrated understanding of biological systems across length scales. This approach offers new insights into fundamental biological systems and gives fresh perspectives to life sciences challenges.

Measurement Across Scales Academics
Condensed Matter Physics

Research Highlights

  • A cross-disciplinary team have developed a new technique for detecting reactive oxygen species in situ in the cell. The team comprises professors from Physics, Chemistry and Biosciences and uses an innovative fluorescence microscopy technique combined with specially designed molecules developed by the SME LightOx. This Durham University spin-out company was founded in 2017 to further develop innovate research from the groups of Professors Ambler and Whiting. Find out more here.
  • Interdisciplinary approaches are bringing new insights to the understanding of stress granules. These are biomolecular condensates that are formed in response to cellular stresses and have important intracellular roles. The team, including Professors Halim Kusumaatmaja (Durham Physics) and Sushma Grellscheid (University of Bergen) is using a novel approach to study the rheological behaviour of these condensates. Find out more here.
  • The use of bacteria to give synthetic vesicles mobility has been discovered by a multidisciplinary team from Durham and Edinburgh Universities. Dr Margarita Staykova (Durham Physics) and her colleagues have shown that when E coli are enclosed in a synthetic vesicle (a spherical membrane bag), the bacteria push out into the membrane to form tubes enclosed in membrane. This is similar to their behaviour during a bacterial infection, with the result that the membrane tubes formed propel the vesicle into motion. Find out more here.

  • Bullseye Analysis

    Professors John Girkin (Durham Physics), Carrie Ambler (Durham Biosciences) and Andrew Whiting (Durham Chemistry) have developed a new FRAP microscopy technique to detect reactive oxygen species in situ in the cell, using novel technology from the spin out company LightOx.
    Lightox image

  • New Insights into the Mechanics of Stress Granules

    An interdisciplinary team from Durham University, the University of Bergen and the University of Warwick are using high-throughput flicker spectroscopy to examine the mechanical forces at work within stress granules.
    Stress Granule HK

Bullseye Analysis

Professors John Girkin (Durham Physics), Carrie Ambler (Durham Biosciences) and Andrew Whiting (Durham Chemistry) have developed a new FRAP microscopy technique to detect reactive oxygen species in situ in the cell, using novel technology from the spin out company LightOx.
Lightox image

New Insights into the Mechanics of Stress Granules

An interdisciplinary team from Durham University, the University of Bergen and the University of Warwick are using high-throughput flicker spectroscopy to examine the mechanical forces at work within stress granules.
Stress Granule HK
Highlight Publications

Activities

SOFI CDT

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Soft Matter and Functional Interfaces (SOFI CDT) was launched in 2014 and led by Professor Tom McLeish FRS. Now in its second iteration SOFI2, it is led by Professor Colin Bain (Durham Chemistry) and brings together expertise from the universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Leeds and from a wide range of industrial partners.

 

Physics of Emergent Behaviour (PoEB) IV conference

The 4th edition of the IOP PoEB conference was held in Harrogate (UK) after the 2023 Physics of Life conference. The organising committee included the BSI’s Dr Margarita Staykova (Durham Physics) and the theme of the meeting was the diverse types of phase transitions found in biology.

 

  • SOFI CDT

    SOFI2 CDT brings together expertise from the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Leeds as well as from the industry leaders in soft matter and functional materials applictions.

  • Physics of Emergent Behaviour (PoEB) IV conference

    The 2023 IOP PoEB conference was co-organised by Dr Margarita Staykova (Durham Physics). It focussed on phase transitions in biological systems including tissues and organs, membranes, cytoplasm and the cytoskeleton.
    PEB 2023

SOFI CDT

SOFI2 CDT brings together expertise from the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Leeds as well as from the industry leaders in soft matter and functional materials applictions.

Physics of Emergent Behaviour (PoEB) IV conference

The 2023 IOP PoEB conference was co-organised by Dr Margarita Staykova (Durham Physics). It focussed on phase transitions in biological systems including tissues and organs, membranes, cytoplasm and the cytoskeleton.
PEB 2023
Research Events

Highlight Publications

Aufderhorst-Roberts, A., & Staykova, M., 2022. Scratching beyond the surface - minimal actin assemblies as tools to elucidate mechanical reinforcement and shape change. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, 6, 6.

Cafolla C., Philpott-Robson J., Elbourne A., Voïtchovsky K., 2024. Quantitative Detection of Biological Nanovesicles in Drops of Saliva Using Microcantilevers. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 16(1), 1. 

Cirakli E., Basu A., 2023. A method for assaying DNA flexibility. Methods, 219.

Dinet C., Torres-Sánchez A., Lanfranco R., Di Michele L., Arroyo M., Staykova M., 2023. Patterning and dynamics of membrane adhesion under hydraulic stress. Nature Communications, 14(1), 1.

Fielding S.M., Cochran J.O., Huang J., Bi D., Marchetti M.C., 2023. Constitutive model for the rheology of biological tissue, Physical Review E, 108(4), 4.

Goodband, R.J., Bain, C.D., & Staykova, M., 2022. Comparative Study of Lipid- and Polymer-Supported Membranes Obtained by Vesicle Fusion. Langmuir.

Goodband, S.J., Kusumaatmaja, H., & Voïtchovsky, K., 2022. Development of a setup to characterize capillary liquid bridges between liquid infused surfaces. AIP Advances, 12, 1.

Le Nagard, L., Brown, A.T., Dawson, A., Martinez, V.A., Poon, W.C.K., & Staykova, M., 2022. Encapsulated bacteria deform lipid vesicles into flagellated swimmers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, 34.

Panter, J. R., Konicek, A. R., King, M. A., Jusufi, A., Yeganeh, M. S., & Kusumaatmaja, H. 2023. Rough capillary rise. Communications Physics, 6, 1.

Prior, C., Panter, J., & Kusumaatmaja, H. 2022. A minimal model of elastic instabilities in biological filament bundles. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 19, 194.

Zhang L., Bounds A., Girkin J., 2023. Monte Carlo simulations and phantom modeling for spatial frequency domain imaging of surgical wound monitoring. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 28(12), 12.

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Measurement Across Scales Academics

Dr Ander Andershorst-Roberts, Department of Physics

Areas of Expertise: Soft Matter Physics

Research Interests

  • Rheology
  • Microrheology
  • Assembly and Mechanics of Cytoskeletal Networks
  • Biopolymers
  • Hydrogels

 

Professor Colin Bain, Department of Chemistry

Areas of Expertise: Complex Fluids and Interfaces 

Research Interests

  • Colloid and interface science
  • Inkjet printing of functional films
  • Fundamentals and applications of droplet drying

 

Dr Matteo T. Degiacomi, Department of Physics               

Areas of Expertise: Molecular Dynamics, Machine Learning, Computational Biophysics    

Research Interests: The development of protein-protein docking methods, and techniques combining machine learning and molecular dynamics simulations to sample protein conformational spaces. 

 

Professor Suzanne Fielding, Department of Physics         

Areas of Expertise: Soft Condensed Matter Physics 

Research Interests

  • Flow instabilities and flow-induced phase transitions 
  • Fluid-fluid demixing 
  • Viscoelastic turbulence 
  • Soft glassy rheology 
  • Biologically active suspensions

 

Professor John Girkin, Department of Physics    

Areas of Expertise: Advanced Photonics and Optical Technologies 

Research Interests

  • Advanced optical microscopy
  • Development of microfluidic technologies to study biological systems
  • Developing novel non-invasive tools for diagnosis

 

Professor Ritu Kataky, Department of Chemistry              

Areas of Expertise: Electrochemistry, Sensors  

Research Interests

  • Developing sensors and biosensors for environmental, clinical and pharmaceutical monitoring
  • Detection and Destruction of Biofilms on soft and hard surfaces

 

Professor Halim Kusumaatmaja, Department of Physics                

Areas of Expertise: Soft Matter, Biophysics 

Research Interests

  • Wetting on structured surfaces 
  • Membrane biophysics
  • Liquid-liquid phase separation 
  • Multi-stable elastic structures 
  • Colloidal self-assembly 
  • Droplet microfluidics 

 

Dr Margarita Staykova, Department of Physics  

Areas of Expertise: Biophysics, Biological Membranes, Functional Interfaces, Living Materials 

Research Interests

  • The mechano-sensitive architecture and composition of the cell interface
  • Cell-cell adhesion, encapsulation
  • Bio-hybrid systems
  • Bacterial growth 

 

Professor Kislon Voitchovsky, Department of Physics     

Areas of Expertise: Biological Physics, Experimental Soft Matter 

Research Interests

  • Solid-liquid and soft interfaces at the nanoscale
  • Interfacial phenomena 
  • Ionic effects 
  • Emergence of mesoscale order