INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITATIVE DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

Course Description

Quantitative biology is a growing field at the intersection of biology and physics that explores how we can use quantitative methods to understand biological systems and the new physics that arise in such systems. This course will explore this field specifically by focusing on developmental biology. We will tackle the long-standing question of how an embryo gets its shape. Specifically, we will explore questions such as: How is genetic information transformed into spatial patterns? What do cell movements look like in the embryo, what are the mathematical tools we can use to describe them, and how do we measure them? What mechanisms control the patterns of force that get the embryo into shape?

Required Text

Christina Hueschen and Rob Phillips, The Restless Cell: Continuum Theories of Living Matter Princeton University Press