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Developmentally driven order-disorder transition in chiral living crystals

ORAL

Abstract

Living matter exhibits complex non-equilibrium behavior. Here, we report on the formation of chiral crystals of starfish embryos which undergo autonomous order-disorder transitions. Embryos form a stable bound state at the water-air interface and hydrodynamically self-assemble into 2D crystals with hexagonal order. Time reversal asymmetry leads to emergence of chiral waves and dissipationless mechanical response. Remarkably, as a function of developmental time, these 2D crystals undergo an order-disorder transition characterized by progressive loss of translational and orientational order. Our hydrodynamic model elucidates how near field interactions can lead to the experimentally observed emergent dynamics.

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Presenters

  • Tzer Han Tan

    Quantitative Biology Initiative, Harvard University

Authors

  • Tzer Han Tan

    Quantitative Biology Initiative, Harvard University

  • Hugh Higinbotham

    Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Alexander Mietke

    MIT, Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Yuchao Chen

    Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT

  • Peter Foster

    Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Shreyas Gokhale

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Jorn Dunkel

    Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Mathematics, MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Nikta Fakhri

    Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology