Morphogenetic events involve the physical remodeling of tissues. What are the driving forces for those events? How do differentiated tissues mechanically interact? How does the global behavior of epithelia arise from cellular mechanical properties? We address these questions with a mix of computer simulation at the cellular level and macroscopic theories at the tissue level.

We are currently investigating the process of zebrafish epiboly in collaboration with the experimental groups of C.P. Heisenberg at the Institute for Science and Technology in Vienna, and cell oscillations in dorsal closure with the experimental group of Jérome Solon at the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona.

Zebrafish embryo image: courtesy M. Behrndt, C.P. Heisenberg