Sep 2, 2025
Recreational Biology: Topological puzzles in cell biology
Date: September 2, 2025 |
11:00 am –
12:00 pm
Speaker:
Manu Prakash, Stanford University
Location: Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B / 63 seats (I23.EG.102)
Language:
English
Recreational mathematics involves mathematical puzzles and games, often appealing to children and untrained adults, inspiring their further study of the subject. Can a similar analogy be drawn in biology? Without making any claims of usefulness, we will explore a wide range of puzzles and paradoxes from the living world: Can single cells be toroidal in nature? What would an animal from Flatland look like? Can cells literally talk to each other? Can single cells think? Can cells act as a mason and build out of rocks? Finally, we will discuss and share initiatives to democratize science and highlight the role of curiosity and observation in exploring the microscopic world.
