Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 32: Statistical Physics of Biological Systems III (joint session BP/DY)

BP 32.5: Vortrag

Donnerstag, 12. März 2026, 16:00–16:15, BAR/SCHÖ

Optimal sensing through phase separation — •Henry Alston¹, Mason Rouches², Arvind Murugan², Aleksandra Walczak¹, and Thierry Mora¹ — ¹Laboratoire de Physique, Ecole Normale Superieure — ²The James Franck Institute & Department of Physics, The University of Chicago

Cells are constantly tasked with making accurate measurements of their surroundings. A paradigmatic example is the sensing of signalling molecule concentrations: the work of Berg and Purcell derived limits for the precision and speed of this sensing through ligand-receptor binding. However, recent experimental work has identified the formation of condensates (liquid droplets coexisting with the cell cytoplasm through phase separation) as a potential mechanism for selectively initiating downstream processes by effectively amplifying small concentration differences between competing signalling molecules. Using a minimal model for droplet nucleation and growth in a fluid mixture, we observe that phase separation can distinguish concentration differences of 1% in minutes, a significant improvement upon well-established pathways for precise concentration sensing.

Keywords: Phase separation; Information processing; Biomolecular condensates; Biological sensing