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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Analogous to algae: Scientists move toward engineering living matter by   
   manipulating movement of microparticles    
      
     Date:   
         July 13, 2023   
     Source:   
         New York University   
     Summary:   
         A team of scientists has devised a system that replicates the   
         movement of naturally occurring phenomena, such as hurricanes and   
         algae, using laser beams and the spinning of microscopic rotors.   
      
      
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   A team of scientists has devised a system that replicates the movement   
   of naturally occurring phenomena, such as hurricanes and algae, using   
   laser beams and the spinning of microscopic rotors.   
      
   The breakthrough, reported in the journal Nature Communications, reveals   
   new ways that living matter can be reproduced on a cellular scale.   
      
   "Living organisms are made of materials that actively pump energy through   
   their molecules, which produce a range of movements on a larger cellular   
   scale," explains Matan Yah Ben Zion, a doctoral student in New York   
   University's Department of Physics at the time of the work and one of   
   the paper's authors.   
      
   "By engineering cellular-scale machines from the ground up, our work   
   can offer new insights into the complexity of the natural world."   
   The research centers on vortical flows, which appear in both biological   
   and meteorological systems, such as algae or hurricanes. Specifically,   
   particles move into orbital motion in the flow generated by their own   
   rotation, resulting in a range of complex interactions.   
      
   To better understand these dynamics, the paper's authors, who also   
   included Alvin Modin, an NYU undergraduate at the time of the study and   
   now a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University, and Paul Chaikin,   
   an NYU physics professor, sought to replicate them at their most basic   
   level. To do so, they created tiny micro-rotors -- about 1/10th the width   
   of a strand of human hair - - to move micro-particles using a laser beam   
   (Chaikin and his colleagues devised this process in a previous work).   
      
   The researchers found that the rotating particles mutually affected   
   each other into orbital motion, with striking similarities to dynamics   
   observed by other scientists in "dancing" algae -- algae groupings that   
   move in concert with each other.   
      
   In addition, the NYU team found that the spins of the particles   
   reciprocate as the particles orbit.   
      
   "The spins of the synthetic particles reciprocate in the same   
   fashion as that observed in algae -- in contrast to previous work   
   with artificial micro- rotors," explains Ben Zion, now a researcher   
   at Tel Aviv University. "So we were able to reproduce synthetically --   
   and on the micron scale -- an effect that is seen in living systems."   
   "Collectively, these findings suggest that the dance of algae can be   
   reproduced in a synthetic system, better establishing our understanding   
   of living matter," he adds.   
      
   The research was supported by grants from the Department of Energy (DE-   
   SC0007991, SC0020976).   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by New_York_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Alvin Modin, Matan Yah Ben Zion, Paul M. Chaikin. Hydrodynamic   
      spin-orbit   
         coupling in asynchronous optically driven micro-rotors. Nature   
         Communications, 2023; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39582-3   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230713142052.htm   
      
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