AI Insight
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that living matter, including single-celled bacteria and human respiratory cells, breaks mirror symmetry in ways that violate classical physics principles. The study shows these cells spontaneously move in curved, irreversible spiral patterns when forming and breaking down collective flows, challenging conventional liquid-crystal physics models. This behavior represents a fundamental difference between how living and non-living matter moves and organizes itself.
Why it matters
This research could reshape our understanding of biological processes involving collective cell movement, such as wound healing, embryonic development, and tissue formation. The findings may lead to new approaches in biomedical engineering and disease treatment by accounting for these unique movement patterns in living systems.
A new study led by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) reveals that living matter violates previously known physical principles of symmetry when cellular flows form and break down collective patterns. The research, published in Nature Physics, challenges conventional liquid-crystal physics by showing that moving single-celled bacteria and human respiratory cells spontaneously break mirror symmetry, moving in curved, irreversible spiral paths.
Source: From swarming bacteria to tissue cells, living matter defies classic physical models of motion