Optical tweezers have become the method of choice in single-molecule manipulation
studies. In this Primer, we first review the physical principles of optical tweezers and the …

In contrast to conventional hard actuators, soft actuators offer many vivid advantages, such
as improved flexibility, adaptability, and reconfigurability, which are intrinsic to living …

Early detection and diagnosis of many cancers is very challenging. Late stage detection of a
cancer always leads to high mortality rates. It is imperative to develop novel and more …

Mechanobiology emerges at the crossroads of medicine, biology, biophysics and
engineering and describes how the responses of proteins, cells, tissues and organs to …

Stochastic thermodynamics as reviewed here systematically provides a framework for
extending the notions of classical thermodynamics such as work, heat and entropy …

Manipulation of individual molecules with optical tweezers provides a powerful means of
interrogating the structure and folding of proteins. Mechanical force is not only a relevant …

Quantum metrology provides a route to overcome practical limits in sensing devices. It holds
particular relevance to biology, where sensitivity and resolution constraints restrict …

Conspectus More than two decades of investigating the chemistry of bistable mechanically
interlocked molecules (MIMs), such as rotaxanes and catenanes, has led to the advent of …

Cellular responses to mechanical forces are crucial in embryonic development and adult
physiology, and are involved in numerous diseases, including atherosclerosis …

The shapes of eukaryotic cells and ultimately the organisms that they form are defined by
cycles of mechanosensing, mechanotransduction and mechanoresponse. Local sensing of …