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Biological physics

Liquid crystals in living tissue

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Evidence has been found that a biological tissue might behave like a liquid crystal. Even more remarkably, topological defects in this liquid-crystal system seem to influence cell behaviour. A materials physicist and a biologist discuss what the findings mean for researchers in their fields. See Letter p.212

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Figure 1: Defects in systems of epithelial cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Linda S. Hirst is in the Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, California 95343, USA.,

    Linda S. Hirst

  2. Guillaume Charras is at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London WC1H 0AH, UK.,

    Guillaume Charras

Authors
  1. Linda S. Hirst
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  2. Guillaume Charras
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Correspondence to Linda S. Hirst or Guillaume Charras.

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Hirst, L., Charras, G. Liquid crystals in living tissue. Nature 544, 164–165 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/544164a

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