Department Colloquium | Toward a Theoretical Physics of Living Matter: Problems and Prospects

Speaker: Curtis Callan (Princeton University)

How biology is constrained by physical principles has always been a legitimate subject of study for theoretical physics. The recent explosion of quantitative data from whole genome sequencing, expression profiling, etc. has placed this question in a qualitatively new context -- one in which the making of quantitative models, and even theories, will be essential for making sense of the masses of data that experiment can now produce. In this talk, Professor Callan will present some case studies of problems in cellular biology as examples of theoretical biological physics, and attempt to explain why he believes that this activity will be important to the future of both disciplines.

Refreshments will be served 3:30 PM-4:00 PM  in 337 West Hall