Michael Shelley

Collective multicellular patterns arising from cadherin-linked cytoskeletal domains

This study introduces a biophysical model that couples adhesion complex dynamics to intracellular mechanics, revealing multicellular patterns like polarization and stress chains.

The physical consequences of sperm gigantism

This study investigates the physical consequences of extreme sperm length in fruit flies, revealing collective material flows and active stresses that maintain functional sperm organization.

Geometric optics organizes organelle interactions and positioning

The paper shows that microtubule asters in C. elegans use a cellular analog of geometric optics to position pronuclei during cell division, with surface-anchored motors and dynamic terminator curves governing this process.

Cell size reduction scales spindle elongation but not chromosome segregation in C. elegans

The paper quantifies mitotic spindle and chromosome segregation dynamics in C. elegans embryos, finding that spindle elongation scales with cell size while chromosome segregation remains invariant.

A first-principles geometric model for dynamics of motor-driven centrosomal asters

This paper develops a first-principles geometric model to study motor-driven centrosomal aster dynamics, showing how cell shape and motor number affect aster stability and revealing new nonlinear phenomena.