In the context of physical systems, tissues are hierarchically organized assemblies of cells and extracellular matrix that exhibit emergent mechanical, transport, and signaling properties distinct from those of their individual components. They function as active, viscoelastic materials capable of growth, remodeling, force generation, and collective migration, governed by mechano-chemical feedback and spatial patterning. Tissue-level behavior arises from cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, including adhesion, cytoskeletal dynamics, and morphogen gradients, and can be modeled using continuum mechanics, active matter frameworks, or agent-based approaches to capture processes such as morphogenesis, homeostasis, and mechanotransduction in developmental and physiological systems.
To explore possible treatments for various diseases, either animal models or human cell cultures are usually used first; however, animal models do not always mimic human diseases well, and cultures are far removed from tissue ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 29, 2025
0
44
The field of tissue engineering aims to replicate the structure and function of real biological tissues. This engineered tissue has potential applications in disease modeling, drug discovery, and implantable grafts.
Biotechnology
Sep 18, 2025
0
49
Cells bumping against one another use electricity to identify which of their neighbors has the least energy to expel them. The King's College London study in partnership with the Francis Crick Institute provides insight into ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 10, 2025
0
128
A tissue fold known as the cephalic furrow, an evolutionary novelty that forms between the head and the trunk of fly embryos, plays a mechanical role in stabilizing embryonic tissues during the development of the fruit fly ...
Evolution
Sep 3, 2025
0
25
Zebrafish midline tissues coordinate their growth during embryonic development using a leader-follower strategy described by formation control, as reported by researchers from Japan and the U.S. The notochord leads elongation, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 26, 2025
0
16
In wound healing, immune response, and cancer metastasis, cells migrate through the body—often squeezing through narrow, confined spaces. Together with experimental collaborators, Professor David Bruckner at the University ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 26, 2025
0
51
Studying the process of brain formation illuminates just how much of development is a series of tiny miracles. Only a few weeks after a human egg is fertilized, a sheet of cells called the neural plate widens, stretches and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 21, 2025
0
36
In the past, scientists believed that the fast-acting biochemistry of genes and proteins was responsible for directing the forces that shape developing organs. But a new study from Syracuse University shows that steady, powerful ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 21, 2025
0
26
The complex 3D shapes of brains, lungs, eyes, hands, and other vital bodily structures emerge from the way in which flat 2D sheets of cells fold during embryonic development. Now, researchers at Columbia Engineering have ...
Biotechnology
Aug 21, 2025
0
21
Scientists have found a way to visualize delicate organs like the brain and heart by letting light into the tissues and exposing their inner workings, no dissection required. In their study published in Cell, Chinese researchers ...
