Mechanics and Geometry: From Twisted Embryonic Brain to Biohybrid Soft Robots
Guest Speaker：Assistant Professor Zi Chen，Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
Inviter: Assoc. Prof. Wei Li
Date&Time: Tuesday, 12.Nov., 10:00-11:30
Venue: Yiucheng lecture Hall (500), Xu Zuyao Building
Biography:
Dr. Zi Chen is an Assistant Professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chen received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Shanghai JiaoTong University, and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. Before joining Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Chen worked as an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College from 2015 to 2021. Prior to Dartmouth, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He was also a visiting scientist in the Weitz lab at Harvard University.
Dr. Chen’s research interests cover such diverse topics as soft robotics, mechanical instabilities of materials and structures, multistable structures, energy harvesting devices, biomimetic materials/devices, mechanics of morphogenesis, and cancer cell biomechanics. Dr. Chen's research has been supported by NIH, NSF, ONR, Society in Science, and American Academy of Mechanics. He has published over 84 peer-reviewed papers in top journals such as Advanced Materials, Materials Today, PRL, Advanced Functional Materials, Small, EML, and APL, many of which were featured on the journals’ cover and highlighted in media reports. Dr. Chen held six patents and is a recipient of the Society in Science – Branco Weiss fellowship, the American Academy of Mechanics Founder’s award, and International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Innovation Award.
Abstract:
Mechanical forces play a key role in the shaping of versatile morphologies, especially chiral and multistable structures, in both natural and synthetic systems. In embryos, chiral structures can also arise via mechanics. The embryonic chick brain, for example, undergoes rightward torsion, one of the earliest organ-level left-right asymmetry events in development. Here we unveiled the mechanical origin of brain torsion and the associated development of left-right asymmetry, through both experiments and modeling. Moreover, inspired by the swimming organisms, we developed a tissue-engineered reconfigurable robot, which can be remotely controlled to adopt different mechanical structures for switching locomotive function. The actuation of the robot is by a muscular tail fin that emulates the swimming of whales and works as a cellular engine powered by the synchronized contraction of striated cardiac microtissue constructs. With the unprecedented controllability and responsiveness, the transformable robot is employed to work as a cargo carrier for programmed delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to selectively eradicate cancer cells. The realization of the transformable concept paves a promising pathway for potential development of intelligent biohybrid robotic systems.
The study of mechanics and geometry will facilitate understanding of shape formation and evolution in natural and synthetic systems, and benefit the ongoing efforts in developing programmable micro-fabrication techniques and novel functional devices such as NEMS devices, active materials, drug delivery agents, energy harvesting devices, and bio-inspired robots. Studies of embryonic development can also benefit future practices in preventing/treating certain diseases.