Tensegrity across biological scales
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Mentor/Supervising Professor Name
Vola M Andrianarijaona
Abstract (Description of Research)
Over the past two decades, biology has undergone a profound conceptual shift. Living systems are no longer viewed strictly as biochemical networks; they are now understood as mechanically integrated, energy-dissipating, nonequilibrium systems governed by physical laws. Tensegrity—structural stability derived from a balance of pre-stressed tension and compression—provides the essential linking framework between molecular architecture and organismal function. This approach moves beyond "chemistry-only" models to explain how biological integrity and "mechanotransduction" (the conversion of physical force into biochemical signals) emerge from hierarchical, force-regulated networks.
Tensegrity across biological scales
Over the past two decades, biology has undergone a profound conceptual shift. Living systems are no longer viewed strictly as biochemical networks; they are now understood as mechanically integrated, energy-dissipating, nonequilibrium systems governed by physical laws. Tensegrity—structural stability derived from a balance of pre-stressed tension and compression—provides the essential linking framework between molecular architecture and organismal function. This approach moves beyond "chemistry-only" models to explain how biological integrity and "mechanotransduction" (the conversion of physical force into biochemical signals) emerge from hierarchical, force-regulated networks.