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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Measuring Active and Passive Tameness Separately in Mice
Published on: August 10, 2018
Physical principles of intracellular organization via active and passive phase transitions
Joel Berry1,2, Clifford P Brangwynne3, Mikko Haataja1
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States of America.
Abstract:
Exciting recent developments suggest that phase transitions represent an important and ubiquitous mechanism underlying intracellular organization. We describe key experimental findings in this area of study, as well as the application of classical theoretical approaches for quantitatively understanding these data. We also discuss the way in which equilibrium thermodynamic driving forces may interface with the fundamentally out-of-equilibrium nature of living cells. In particular, time and/or space-dependent concentration profiles may modulate the phase behavior of biomolecules in living cells. We suggest future directions for both theoretical and experimental work that will shed light on the way in which biological activity modulates the assembly, properties, and function of viscoelastic states of living matter.
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