A new model, vetted by experiments on lung cancer cells, may help to explain how cancer and other diseases accumulate drug-resistance mutations that can compromise the effectiveness of treatments.

In its inaugural year, PRX Life has focused on enhancing the experience of authors and referees working at the intersection of physics and biology. Our goal is to give this interdisciplinary community a voice. Discover what we have accomplished and see what is coming next.

Spontaneous rotations of epithelial spheres reveals chiral tissue patterning mechanisms, showing the interplay between geometry, topology, and collective dynamics.

Self-organized spherical shells made up of a few hundred cells spontaneously rotate when embedded in a gel. New research explains why.

Synopsis on:
Tzer Han Tan et al.
PRX Life 2, 033006 (2024)

The policy requires authors to explain where research data can be found starting Sept. 4.

Quantitative analysis of the morphological transition in slime mold reveals how this microorganism reorganizes into different shapes, balancing building and transport costs.

Opposing flagellar bundles enable bacterial swimming in constrained environments via two novel mechanisms.

Adding temporally persistent noise to a polymer model of chromosomes to account for motor-generated active forces captures correlated long-distance motion, dynamic compaction, and other chromosome behaviors.

A theory experimental dialogue offers new insights into the multicomponent depolymerization of actin filaments by profilin, cofilin, and twinfilin.

Experiments with synthetic droplets in cells, combined with molecular simulations, show the impact of macromolecular crowding and ATP-driven activities on condensate formation.

Proteins at the interfaces of two immiscible condensates can act as biological switches, regulating the formation of complex architectures with shared stable interfaces.

PRX Life would like to welcome Josh Shaevitz, Professor of Physics and Genomics at Princeton University, to the editorial team. Josh’s research explores how life emerges from collections of molecules, cells, and organisms, focusing on bacterial growth, cellular pattern formation, and discrete animal behaviors.

APS has selected 156 Outstanding Referees for 2024 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online.

PRX Life’s Special Collection on Machine Learning and Structural Biology showcases cutting-edge research where machine learning intersects with structural biology. The collection is open to everyone and PRX Life is waiving article publication charges for all accepted manuscripts.

Manuscripts will be considered and published on a rolling basis.

The editors of PRX Life introduce the journal’s first issue and discuss their vision for serving the research communities working at the intersection of physics and the living world.