Biomedical active matter: Emergence and breakdown of collective functionalities

TL;DR

This review explores how collective behaviors in biological active matter underpin health and disease, highlighting recent advances and potential biomedical applications like microrobotics and bioinspired materials.

Contribution

It synthesizes recent progress in understanding collective functionalities in biomedical active matter and discusses innovative therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.

Findings

Collective self-assembly is crucial for biological functions.

Disruption of collective behaviors is linked to diseases.

Active matter technologies offer new biomedical solutions.

Abstract

Living systems are made of active materials with microscopic components that work together to perform macroscopic biological tasks. The breakdown of these collective functionalities leads to diseases, which, conversely, could be treated by exploiting self-organization in healthcare technologies. Here, we review recent advances in this rapidly growing field of biomedical active matter. The main themes are (1) collective self-assembly and spatiotemporal coordination; (2) collective motion, transport, and navigation; (3) collective sensing, signaling, and communication; and (4) collective adaptation, evolution, and learning. We discuss these emerging processes in a wide range of systems, including protein folding, biomolecular condensates, cytoskeleton dynamics, intracellular flows, bacterial biofilms, quorum sensing, cilia synchronization, wound healing, biolocomotion, neurons, endocrine signalling, and cardiovascular flow networks. For each, we highlight medical conditions associated with reduced collective functionality and how they may be treated using microrobotic swarms, bioinspired metamaterials, diagnostics, lab-on-chip devices, organoids, and other active and adaptive matter innovations.