Methods and measures for investigating microscale motility

TL;DR

This paper reviews experimental, analytical, and mathematical methods for studying microscale motility across various biological scales, highlighting challenges and future directions in understanding microscopic organism navigation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current techniques and identifies key challenges and future research directions in microscale motility analysis.

Findings

Transferable techniques for microscale motility analysis

Identification of pressing challenges in the field

Future directions for research and technology development

Abstract

Motility is an essential factor for an organism's survival and diversification. With the advent of novel single-cell technologies, analytical frameworks and theoretical methods, we can begin to probe the complex lives of microscopic motile organisms and answer the intertwining biological and physical questions of how these diverse lifeforms navigate their surroundings. Herein, we give an overview of different experimental, analytical, and mathematical methods used to study a suite of microscale motility mechanisms across different scales encompassing molecular-, individual- to population-level. We identify transferable techniques, pressing challenges, and future directions in the field. This review can serve as a starting point for researchers who are interested in exploring and quantifying the movements of organisms in the microscale world.