Researchers create mathematical model of fruit fly eyes

January 11th, 2008 in Other Sciences / Mathematics
Fruit Fly
Fruit Fly. Credit: UCSD

Fruit Fly. Credit: UCSD





Hilgenfeldt knew that when it comes to creating a model that shows what determines the shape of functional cells in tissues, the myriad factors -- including the bulk of the cell, what’s going on inside of the cell and how the cell forms -- make it very difficult to quantify.

“That’s a nightmare for quantitative scientists,” he said. “It’s extremely complicated.”

But the cells in a fruit fly’s eye act more like foam in that the structure of the cells depends only on the energy of their interfaces, or the surface where the cells touch. That energy is divided into two parts -- the energy from the stretching of the cells’ membranes and the energy of the “glue” (the adhesion molecules) that holds the neighboring cell membranes together. Hilgenfeldt took those two factors and created a quantitative model of cell geometries in the fruit fly retina. So instead of needing to know all the different cell factors to create the model, he just needed the two energy components to create the model.

“It’s one of the most quantitative models I’ve seen for a biological system,” Hilgenfeldt said. “For this system, mainly all you need to know is the interfacial energies and everything falls into place.”



“It is very promising for quantitative science to be able to do something about these complex biological systems,” he said.


“This is precisely what the grant is supposed to do,” Hilgenfeldt said. “Interdisciplinary work across all the stages of academic life -- from undergrad to faculty.”

Source: Northwestern University

"Researchers create mathematical model of fruit fly eyes." January 11th, 2008. http://phys.org/news119294369.html