Biophysical Society Bulletin | July/August 2020

Publications

Know the Editor Jeremiah Zartman

such as those of fruit flies. Reverse-engineering complex multicellular systems requires constantly keeping up with the latest tools and developments in a broad range of disciplines, which I find stimulating and challenging. This reinforces my conviction that cross-talk between multiple disciplines is needed to discover the general design principles of multicellu- lar systems. How do you stay on top of all the latest developments in your field? Last summer, as a part of a scheduled sabbatical, I partici- pated in the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics’ Program “Morphogenesis in Animals and Plants: Search for Principles,” held by the University of California at Santa Barbara from July 22 to August 23, 2019. I was able to make new connections and rub shoulders with many of the leaders in the field of morphogenesis. Both the similarities and differences on how size and shape are regulated in plants and animals fascinate me. Additionally, I enjoyed the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society. There, I branched out to attend many sessions outside my own research discipline. This provided me with new perspectives and inspiration.

University of Notre Dame Editor, Systems Biophysics Biophysical Journal

Jeremiah Zartman

What are you currently working on that excites you? I am excited about reverse-engineering how cells integrate multimodal signals — chemical, mechanical, and bioelectri- cal — across spatial and temporal scales. We are trying to better understand how the dynamics of second messengers such as Ca2+ are involved in information flow and process- ing and how chemical-based information is translated into mechanical forces. I am fascinated by how individual cells process both intrinsic and extrinsic cues that lead to emer- gent tissue-level responses, such as size control. We have been investigating this question using genetic model systems

In the last five years there has been an explosion of interest in phase separation as an organizing principle in signal transduction, nuclear organization, and chromatin structure. Phase separation and generalizations thereof are governed by multivalence of interaction motifs and/or domains within protein and nucleic acids, especially RNA molecules. We are inviting contributions that treat any aspect of the relevance of phase separation to biology. These could include new experimental results, critical reviews of the state of the field, guides to the design and interpretation of experiments, explorations of the basic principles underlying phase separation, qualitative and quantitative explorations of the consequences of phase separation for biology, or historical perspectives on the development of current models. Special Issue: Phase Separation in Nucleic Acid Biochemistry and Signal Transduction Biophysical Journal Editors: Jason Kahn, University of Maryland, College Park Rohit Pappu, Washington University in St. Louis Edward Lemke, Johannes Gutenberg University and Institute of Molecular Biology Mainz Call for Papers

Deadline for submission: August 31, 2020

To submit, visit biophysj.msubmit.net

July/August 2020

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