Welcome to the Universality in Biology Group website. We are based in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. We employ tools of statistical mechanics, soft condensed matter physics, applied mathematics, and computation methods to study universal behaviour in biological systems. Our research expands the horizons of physics and biology by studying biological problems that require the development of novel physics. We enjoy close collaborations with biologists and bioengineers. Specific biological processes that we are interested in include protein amyloid self-assembly, cytoplasmic pattern formation, tissue homeostasis, and collective behaviour in living organisms.
Upcoming meeting I am attendingHydrodynamic Approaches to Active Matter: Successes and Future Challenges, 6-10 October 2025, MPI-PKS, Dresden, Germany
News and Views
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C.F. Lee (2024) It takes more than forceful leaders Nature Physics 20, 1532 |
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C.F. Lee (2020) Formation of liquid-like cellular organelles depends on their composition Nature 581, 144 |
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C.A. Weber, D. Zwicker, F. Jülicher and C.F. Lee (2019) Physics of Active Emulsions Reports of Progress in Physics 82, 064601 E-print: arXiv:1806.09552 |
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C.F. Lee and J.D. Wurtz (2019) Novel physics arising from phase transitions in biology Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 52, 023001 E-print: arXiv:1809.11117. [Featured in a Thesis article in Nature Physics] |
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S. Gordon,
A.A. Rodriguez, Y. Gu, K.D. Corbett, C.F. Lee, and O Rog (2024) The synaptonemal complex assembles between meiotic chromosomes by wetting bioRxiv 2024.08.07.607092 |
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P. Jentsch and C.F. Lee (2024) New universality class describes Vicsek's flocking phase in physical dimensions Physical Review Letters 133 128301. E-print: arXiv:2402.01316 |
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L. Chen, C.F. Lee, A. Maitra and J. Toner (2022) Packed swarms on dirt: two dimensional incompressible flocks with quenched and annealed disorder Physical Review Letters 129 188004. E-print: arXiv:2202.02865 [Featured in a News and Views article in Nature and in Physics Magazine, PRL Editors' suggestion] |
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A. Killeen, T. Bertrand and C.F. Lee (2022) Polar Fluctuations Lead to Extensile Nematic Behavior in Confluent Tissues Physical Review Letters 128 078001. E-print: arXiv:2107.03838 [Featured in Physics Magazine, PRL Editors' suggestion] |
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A.W. Folkmann, A.A. Putnam, C.F. Lee, and G. Seydoux (2021) Regulation of biomolecular condensates by interfacial protein clusters Science 373 1218. [Featured in a Perspective article in Science] |
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L. Pytowski, C.F. Lee, A.C. Foley, D.J. Vaux and L. Jean (2020) Liquid–liquid phase separation of type II diabetes associated IAPP initiates hydrogelation and aggregation Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 12050. |
