Chemical Society Seminar: Peter Fratzl (Purves Lecture)- On the role of internal stresses in actuation and in growth of biological materials

Abstract:

Internal stresses are omnipresent in materials. They usually arise during synthesis when parts of the material expand or contract. In growing tissues, contractile cells put the surrounding extracellular matrix under substantial loads, thereby generating internal stresses that help shaping the organ. Internal stresses can also arise when parts of the material are swelling by water absorption or desorption through osmotic effects, a process very common in plants. The lecture will review recent experiments and modeling results on how internal stresses play a crucial role in tissue shaping by growth or by swelling.