Animals come in an extraordinary range of body shapes. A starfish looks nothing like an earthworm, a mouse, or a human. Yet even closely related species can appear radically different: corals, ...

The lymphatic system is a network of branching vessels that regulate fluid balance and support the immune system. Its smallest capillaries, comprised of a single endothelial cell layer, must stay ...

Biological tissues have a remarkable ability to organize and change shape, driven by forces generated by their own cells. One of the major challenges in bioengineering is harnessing this natural ...

Dormant lung cancer cells change their shape from spindle shaped (above) to round (below), which helps protect them from the body's immune defenders. Image: Wang, Z., et al., Nature Cancer (CC BY 4.0) ...

Inspired by the theories of D’Arcy Thompson, scientists combined theoretical and experimental approaches to establish ‘mechanotypes’ as the physical links between genes and body shapes. Pictured are ...