About
The Morris Lab develops and applies concepts from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, active soft matter, and applied mathematics to understand living systems. We are part of the EMBL Australia program and work across the School of Physics and the School of Biomedical Sciences (Single Molecule Science) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. The lab is affiliated with the Australian Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems (MACSYS), and coordinates the national Theory of Living Systems webinar series, which showcases leading research at the interface of physics and biology.
Background
Modern life runs on theory and computation. The design of the vehicles we travel in, the buildings we occupy, and the devices we use daily all rely on simulations grounded in well-established theories—such as fluid dynamics or semiconductor physics. Our core research question is whether biology can be approached with similar predictive power: can we develop quantitative theories of living systems that integrate seamlessly with experiment, just as in traditional branches of physics and engineering? Our long-term vision is to help enable a truly in silico biology, where theoretical and computational models work in tandem with experiments to guide discovery and design.
Signs of this transformation are already visible. Across biology, the resolution, fidelity, and volume of experimental data continue to grow, paving the way for a more central role for theory. Positioned at this evolving interface, the Morris Lab tackles two foundational questions:
What can physics do for biology?
Theoretical tools from thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, soft condensed matter, and statistical physics span the scales on which biological processes occur. We collaborate closely with experimental groups to interpret complex biological phenomena using these frameworks. Selected projects include:
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How membrane tension regulates ion channel conformation;
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How the HIV capsid exploits the nuclear pore complex;
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How the scaffold protein Anillin orchestrates cortical RhoA signaling;
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How Cadherins mediate contact inhibition by coupling to cortical flows;
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How sequence repetition influences DNA hybridisation kinetics.
What can biology do for physics?
Biology often stretches classical theories to their limits, requiring new models and mathematical frameworks. Our lab works to expand the physicist's toolkit by identifying and formalising novel behaviors found in living systems. Examples of such efforts include:
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Interplay between flow, morphology, and order in active tissue models;
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Nonlinear coupling between ATP consumption, force generation, and remodeling in actomyosin systems;
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Spatial patterning to control kinetics in multivalent receptor systems;
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Criticality in driven, non-stationary transport systems;
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Dynamical phase transitions in evolving populations, and how growth shapes evolutionary outcomes.
Tools and techniques
In terms of techniques and tools, we have so far developed, and plan to continue to develop, expertise in three broad areas:
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Geometry/morphology, via the use of differential geometry, exterior calculus and topology.
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Activity, in the form of active hydrodynamics and self-propelled particle dynamics.
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Fluctuations, and the effects of multiplicative and intrinsic noise.
Despite the group’s work covering an apparently diverse range of biological systems, our research program can be cast in terms of these three areas and the overlaps between them (see below).
