Modeling Biosynthetic Active Matter

New active materials are being synthesized that use cellular constituents
such as biopolymers and motor-proteins, as well as synthetic components
such as depletants or drugs that modify polymerization. These self-driven
fluids will stretch, roil, or contract, depending upon the polymers and
motor-proteins involved, and could be used to drive microscale transport
processes. These systems also teach us about complex biological processes
such as cell division. I'll discuss how we model these materials as
multi-scale complex fluids driven by internal stresses generated by
motor-protein activity, how they behave dynamically, and a bit on what
they may teach us about biology.