Marko Popović

I am currently a research group leader at Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden and a senior research associate at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. My research focuses on the mechanics of biological tissues, with particular interest in tissue morphogenesis and the mechanical properties of soft amorphous materials. I study the physics of living tissues, asking how they fold, flow, and organize during development and regeneration through a combination of theoretical modeling, numerical simulations, and data analysis.

less than 1 minute read

Our new preprint, Body-Axis Reorientation in Regenerating Hydra under Geometric Confinement, is now available on bioRxiv.

In this work, Ariel Westfried, Liora Garion, Marko Popović, and Kinneret Keren show that geometric confinement can override the inherited body-axis orientation in regenerating Hydra. Tissue spheroids confined in narrow cylindrical channels reorient their body axis along the channel, and live imaging reveals that this process is accompanied by remodeling of the supracellular actomyosin fiber organization. The results highlight how external mechanical constraints can redirect body-axis patterning during morphogenesis.

Updated:

You may also enjoy

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Prize

less than 1 minute read

I received the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Prize, which recognizes mid-career researchers working at the interface of physics, biophysics, and the life sciences.