By Irene Hsiao
Thermodynamic laws postulate that structures will assume a state that permits the lowest level of free energy. However, most living systems, as well as many synthetic systems, do not conform to such rules because they consume energy. In “Design Principles for Nonequilibrum Self-Assembly,” published in the December 13 issue of PNAS, graduate student Michael Nguyen and assistant professor Suri Vaikuntanathan use mathematical techniques to address such an active system, developing principles that describe the set of structures that form under nonequilibrium conditions. Their findings can potentially be used to predict morphological changes in living systems, such as what shapes form when cells divide, or assist in the design of structures under nonequilibrium conditions.